Explore 1920s Radio Manufacturing For Free At The Asheville Radio Museum In North Carolina

Asheville Radio Museum in North Carolina is a free and fascinating journey exploring radio's discovery. Learn about vintage devices, the amateur Ham radio, and the inventors along the way. Even if you aren't very interested in radio, the vintage equipment reminds folks of the history that built the technology of today. And maybe more importantly, it teaches the younger generations about what existed before their cell phones, iPods, and other devices. Just see how far we've come!

The Asheville Radio Museum sits in room 315 of the Elm Building at Asheville–Buncombe Technical Community College.

The building is handicap accessible, and the museum is located in the Department of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

One of the best museums in North Carolina teaches the importance of radio and how it connected folks in new and important ways.

The volunteers are knowledgeable and share interesting facts as you explore the space. The museum is open Saturdays from February until the weekend before Thanksgiving.

The Amateur (HAM) Radio equipment wall showcases more than 50 transmitters and receivers.

We can see a working HAM station and learn they can work through the internet and contact the international space station! Do you know more than 700,000 HAMS exist in the world? A self-guided museum overview is available on the computer.

What started as a small "spark" has generated mass communication: This early 1900s transmitter uses sparks to transmit Morse Code.

See how this cool technology works.

Other shelves are packed with radios and equipment from many decades.

Not very many of these collections exist in the country. One is also located in Huntington, West Virginia.

Try tuning a century-old "crystal" radio or a 1920s farm radio.

Part of the museum's inventory is the Allan Erdmann Collection of more than 50 diverse and notable radio receivers built from

1920 through the 1940s!

Listen to old music on the early 1900s Edison Cylinder phonograph.

What an elegant design.

And learn about some of the movers and shakers of early radio, including French physicist Édouard Branly.

More than 130 years ago, Branly coined the term radio (from “radio conductor”) in a research paper.

The radio became such an important method of communication that it was used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

He is pictured here broadcasting his first "Fireside Chat" from the White House on March 12, 1933. By his last one in June 1944, the president had created between 27 and 31 broadcasts tuned in by millions.

Get a chance to purchase a lovely, vintage piece at the annual Vintage Radio Market that usually takes place in early fall.

Asheville Radio Museum in North Carolina offers more information on the website. Read how one writer fell in love with Asheville. And don't forget to visit our beloved castle while you're out exploring history.