Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site is a 10-hectare (25-acre) property in Baddeck, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, overlooking the Bras d’Or Lakes.
The site is a unit of the national park system, and includes the Alexander Graham Bell Museum, the only museum in the world containing the actual artifacts and documents from Bell’s years of experimental work in Baddeck. This site was designated a National Historic Site in 1952.
Museum : The museum features artifacts donated in 1955 from the Bell family’s personal museum, located in the Kite House at Beinn Bhreagh. The museum also features memorabilia associated with Bell’s experiments, including: the original HD-4 hull of a hydrofoil boat that set the world speed record in Baddeck of over 70 MPH in 1919 a full-scale replica of that boat; the AEA Silver Dart which in 1909 J.A.D. MacCurdy piloted up into the air over the ice of Baddeck Bay to become the first heavier-than-air craft to be flown in Canada and possibly the British Empire — plus many other exhibits and documents from Bell’s years of research activities on the transmission of speech and sound by wire and by light, as well as his experiments with kites, planes and high speed boats. The museum also features displays relating to Bell’s work with the deaf and how it led to the invention of the telephone.
In addition to its displays, the museum features an observation deck on the roof of the building which offers a view of Alexander Graham Bell’s Beinn Bhreagh estate, across the Bay. Beinn Bhreagh is a separate National Historic Site, still owned and occupied by Bell descendants. The museum was designed by renowned British Architect O.Howard Leicester R.I.B.A. It is not in the national park system and not open to the public. For more, see Bras d’Or Lakes.
Access : Coordinates: 46.1028, -60.7458 / From Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia:
Drive east on the TransCanada Highway (Highway 105) for about one hour. Take Exit 9 at Baddeck. It’s two kilometres (1.25 miles) to the site. From Sydney, Nova Scotia:
Drive west on Highway 125 to the TransCanada Highway (Highway 105) and continue driving for about one hour. Take Exit 9 at Baddeck. It’s two kilometres (1.25 miles) to the site.
Months of Operation : May 15 – October 30 / Hours Of Operation : 9am–5pm daily / Location : 559 Chebucto Street, Cabot Trail , Baddeck Nova Scotia.
Rates: May 1 – October 31 Adult $7.80 , Senior (65+) $6.55 – Youth (6-16) $3.90
Family $19.60 – Admission Fees Subject to Change
