Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site of Canada

Natural Wonders & Cultural Treasures

Cultural Heritage

History

Best known as the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell was also one of the outstanding figures of his generation in the education of the deaf. Bell first came to Baddeck in 1885 and returned the next year to establish a vacation home for his family, far from the formality and summer heat of Washington D.C. He regularly spent a substantial part of the year at Beinn Bhreagh and both he and his wife, Mabel Hubbard Bell, played an active role in the social and intellectual life of the village.

By the time of Bell's arrival in Baddeck, the success of the telephone had freed him from the need to earn a living and, at Beinn Bhreagh, Bell continued his busy routine of experimentation and analysis. His imagination and wide-ranging curiosity led him into scientific experiments in such areas as sound transmission, medicine, aeronautics, marine engineering and space-frame construction. Bell can be considered an inventor, an innovator, an inspirer of others and a humanitarian. Aeronautical work was a large part of his life at Beinn Bhreagh, from early kite-flying experiments to the success of the Silver Dart in February 1909. This achievement was a product of Bell's collaboration with four young men (Casey Baldwin, Douglas McCurdy, Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge and Glenn Curtiss) in the Aerial Experiment Association, founded in 1907. In later years, Bell and Baldwin turned to experiments with hydrofoil craft that culminated in the development of the HD-4, which set a world speed record in 1919.

Bell's activities at Beinn Bhreagh had a significant impact on the economic and social life of Baddeck. The estate provided work for men and women both in traditional service occupations and in jobs connected with Bell's experiments, such as production of thousands of tetrahedral cells for his massive kites. Mabel Bell played a vital role in her husband's career, providing him with both financial and moral support to pursue his diverse interests. It was Mabel Bell who inspired, founded and funded the Aerial Experiment Association which achieved heavier-than-air flight. Mabel Bell was primarily responsible for the management of Beinn Bhreagh and was deeply involved in village life, helping to establish the local public library, and the Home and School Association as well as a reading club for young women.

Historical Resources

The major historical resources at the site are the large collection of artifacts related to Alexander Graham Bell's research, which he conducted both at Baddeck and elsewhere; books, photographs and copies of material from his personal archives; and various personal items, furniture and awards received by Bell during his lifetime. Most artifacts are original, but there are some reproductions that are also valuable, particularly ones such as the HD-4 reconstruction, which incorporate original parts. Some archival materials are original, others are valuable copies of original transcriptions located elsewhere.

Beinn Bhreagh

Still in private ownership, Bell's summer estate retains many elements such as roads, wharfs and buildings from his time. His descendants maintain Beinn Bhreagh Hall and many of the historic outbuildings (e.g. the Kite House, the Lodge, and the Kia Ora boathouse), although some are considerably changed. The graves of Alexander Graham Bell and his wife Mabel are located on the Beinn Bhreagh estate. There is no public access to this property. It is a significant off-site resource because, as the scene of Bell's work, it provides the context for the exhibit complex.

Chronology of Bell

March 3, 1847: Born in Edinburgh, Scotland
1862-63: Spent year in London with grandfather, Alexander Bell, expert on mechanics of speech was a speech therapist and teacher of elocution
1864: With brother Melville, built speaking device and during the summer mastered his father's visible speech system in 5 weeks
1865: On death of Grandfather Bell, father Melville inherited London practice
1867: Brother Edward dies from tuberculosis
July-Dec. 1868: In charge of father's London practice while father in North America
1868-70: Studied vocal anatomy at University College, London
May 1870: Brother Melville dies from tuberculosis
July 1870: With parents sails to Canada
August 1, 1870: Arrives at Québec
August 6, 1870: Family buys Brantford home
April 1871: To Boston to teach the deaf (returns home to Brantford each summer)
July 26, 1874: In Brantford, tells father of method to transmit sound by wire
Winter 1874-75: Works on "harmonic telegraph" in Boston with Tom Watson
June 2, 1875: Hears sound over device
Summer 1875: With Watson constructs Gallows Frame, world's first telephone
September 1875: Writes patent specifications in Brantford
1875: First contact with Smithsonian Institute: Joseph Henry encourages him
March 7, 1876: Issue of United States Patent No. 174,465 for Bell's "Improvements in
Telegraphy" - the initial telephone patent. Telephone is still only a concept.
March 10, 1876: Hears Watson's voice over liquid transmitter (second telephone)
June 25, 1876: Demonstrates Centennial transmitter (third telephone) to Sir William Thomson and Emperor Pedro II at Philadelphia Exposition
July 7, 9, 22, 1876: With others, tries unsuccessfully to talk long-distance over telegraph lines
Early August 1876: "Three great tests" of telephone in and near Brantford
August 1876: Thomson describes telephone to British Association for the Advancement of Science
September 14, 1876: Thomson describes telephone in Nature
October 6, 1876: Holds world's first two-way telephone conversation with Watson, in Boston
October 9, 1876: Holds two-way conversation with Watson over telegraph line linking Boston and East Cambridge
July 9, 1877: With Watson, Thomas Sanders and Gardiner Hubbard, forms Bell Telephone Company, a voluntary association.
July 11, 1877: Marries Mabel Hubbard
1878 May: Elsie May born - First daughter of Alexander Graham and Mabel Bell
1877-78: With wife in England
July 1878: Bell Telephone Company re-organized as a corporation
1879: The Bells settle in Washington, D.C.
1879-80: Works on photophone with assistant, Sumner Tainter
February, 1880: Marian, second daughter born to the Bells
Summer of 1881: Rushes, with Tainter, to develop telephone probe to assist mortally wounded President James Garfield
1882: With father-in-law, Gardiner Hubbard, acquires and re-organizes journal Science
1883: Opens school for deaf and non-deaf children on Scott Circle in Washington
Summer of 1885: The Bells visit Baddeck for the first time
November 1885: Closes school for deaf because of patent litigation
1887: her father brings Helen Keller to Bell-beginning lifelong friendship
January 1888: With Gardiner Hubbard and others helps to found National Geographic Society
1890: Conducts first national census of the deaf in the United States
Spring of 1891: Becomes interested in flight and begins experiments at Baddeck
Late 1894: Begins tests of wings and propellers at Baddeck
May 1896: Witnesses flight of Samuel Langley's steam-powered model plane on Potomac River
1898: Begins kite experiments at Baddeck
1898: Becomes president of National Geographic Society, regent of Smithsonian Institute
Summer of 1901: Triangular prism-shaped box kite flies at Baddeck
August 25, 1902: Discovers tetrahedral design (objects with four triangular sides)
August 1903: Langley flies quarter-size model plane
October 7, 1903: Test of Langley's aerodrome fails
December 8, 1903: Langley's aerodrome fails again
December 17, 1903: Wright brothers fly at Kitty Hawk
December 1904: 1300-celled Frost King flies at Baddeck
1906: Begins thinking about hydrosurfaces
Summer of 1906: Casey Baldwin visits Baddeck with Douglas McCurdy
July 1907: Glenn Curtiss takes engine to Baddeck
September 1907: Thomas Selfridge joins Bell, Baldwin, Curtiss and McCurdy at Baddeck
October 1, 1907: Group sets up Aerial Experiement Association (AEA) with funding from Mabel Bell
December 3, 1907: Tetrahedral kite Cygnet I flies unmanned at Baddeck
December 6, 1907: Selfridge flies in Cygnet I which crashes
January 13, 1908: First trial of bamboo biplane hang glider
March 12, 1908: Baldwin flies Red Wing, AEA's first powered aerodrome
March 19, 1908: Selfridge flies White Wing (Drome No. 2)
June 20, 1908: First flight of Drome No. 3 (June Bug)
July 4, 1908: Curtiss flies June Bug nearly one kilometre in first official aircraft test
September 17, 1908: Selfridge killed flying at Fort Meyer
December 6, 1908: Drome No. 4 (Silver Dart) flies at Hammondsport, NY
1908: With Baldwin, adds foils to catamaran and builds unsuccessful hydrofoil, Dhonas Bheag
February 23, 1909: McCurdy makes first heavier-than-air flight in Canada in Silver Dart
February 1909: Unsuccessful attempts to fly Cygnet II
February 1909: AEA disbanded
April 1909: Provides financing and facilities at Baddeck for Baldwin and McCurdy's Canadian Aerodrome Company
July 1909: Has company start on full-scale powered aerodrome
March 1910: Unsuccessful trials of aerodrome
April 1910: Baldwin and McCurdy dissolve company
1910: With Baldwin, successful work on hydrofoil
1910-11: With Baldwin on world tour
Winter 1911-12: Building tetrahedral aerodrome Cygnet III
1911-14: With Baldwin, builds hydrodrome HD-1; HD-2 and HD-3 come later; Bell and Baldwin follow separate but parallel paths on hydrofoils
1914-17: Halts hydrofoil research at Baddeck while United States neutral in First World War
1917: Urges Baldwin to build model of HD-4
1917-18: With Baldwin, builds HD-4
September 9, 1919: HD-4 sets world speed record of 71 mph (114 km/h)
August 2, 1922: Dies at Baddeck
Januay 3, 1923: Mabel Bell dies