Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site of Canada

We visited the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site at the east end of Baddeck. The entrance fee for seniors was $6.55 each.

The museum is divided into several exhibit areas. The first one we saw was "Sound & Silence" which tells of his life from birth in Scotland in 1847 up to his arrival in Baddeck in 1885. Bell's mother was deaf and his father taught the deaf to speak. Mabel Hubbard Bell developed scarlet fever at the age of five and spread to her inner ears and she became totally deaf. We learned of Alexander Graham Bell's work teaching deaf people and saw photos of him with Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan.

From Alexander Graham Bell Museum

Our next stop was to the Mr. Bell theater where we watched an 18 minute showing films, photographs and artifacts to see the ideas that led Bell to create man-carrying kites, airplanes and a marine record-setting hydrofoil boat.

We then went into the "Water" exhibit which tells the story of Bell's and Casey Baldwin's experiments with hydrofoil craft. There we saw the remains of the successful HD-4 hydrofoil. There was also a full-size recreation of the hydrofoil. On September 9, 1919 his hydrofoil boat HD-4 (his fourth hydrofoil boat) set a world's marine speed record of 70.86 mph - the record stood for 10 years.

From Alexander Graham Bell Museum

Our next stop was at the "Air" exhibit told of Bell's work with man-carrying kites and airplanes. We saw some original parts from his "Silver Dart" airplane. On February 23, 1909 his "Silver Dart" made the first controlled, powered flight in Canada and the British Empire. It's engine was supplied by Glenn Curtiss. The "Silver Dart' crashed on its fifth flight and never flew again.

In the "Ideas" exhibit we saw the wide range of experiments and interest of Bell and his associates. Bell was fascinated with tetrahedral shapes and used them as the basis for his kites. He used the design for his beach cabana which was on the grounds of the museum.

From Alexander Graham Bell Museum

In the "Home" exhibit we learned the story of Bell's estate, Beinn Bhreagh; it means "beautiful mountain" in Scottish Gaelic. We saw photos of Bell and his family. We learned of their family life while living in Baddeck. The Bell home is still in possession of the Bell family and is maintained as a private residence. Alexander Graham Bell died August 2, 1922 at his home in Baddeck. Mabel Hubbard Bell was born November 25, 1857 (10 years younger than Bell) and died at home in Baddeck on January 3, 1923. They are both buried at Beinn Bhreagh.

From Alexander Graham Bell Museum