The New England Wireless and Steam Museum is an
electrical
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
and
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
at 1300 Frenchtown Road in
East Greenwich, Rhode Island
East Greenwich is a town and the county seat of Kent County, Rhode Island. The population was 14,312 at the 2020 census. East Greenwich is the wealthiest municipality within the state of Rhode Island. It is part of the Providence metropolitan st ...
, with working
steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
s and an early
wireless
Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...
station and technology archives.
The museum was founded in 1964 under the leadership of Robert Merriam.
[ According to the museum's website, the New England Wireless and Steam Museum contains five buildings:
* One museum building contains the wireless collection.]
* The Massie Wireless Station
The Massie Wireless Station (PJ) was built in Point Judith, Rhode Island, in 1907 and may be the oldest surviving working wireless station in the world. It is named for inventor Walter W. Massie, president of the Massie Wireless Telegraph Company ...
, (PJ), was "built in 1907. It is the oldest surviving working wireless station in the world. It was moved to this site from Point Judith
Point Judith is a village and a small Cape (geography), cape, on the coast of Narragansett, Rhode Island, on the western side of Narragansett Bay where it opens out onto Rhode Island Sound.
It is the location for the year-round ferry service that ...
, Rhode Island, in 1982 to avoid demolition."
* Another museum building contains "the stationary steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
collection. This collection includes the only surviving George H. Corliss engine running under steam today."
* The Mayes building houses the Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...
library of historic engineering textbooks and the collection of steam engine models.
* A meeting house
A meeting house (meetinghouse, meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes public meetings take place.
Terminology
Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a
* church, which is a body of people who believe in Chr ...
built in 1822 is used as the assembly hall for the museum. In 1972, the nearby Frenchtown Baptist Church in East Greenwich was going to demolish its building, so it was moved to this site to save the building. The meeting house is part of the Tillinghast Road Historic District
Tillinghast Road Historic District is a historic district encompassing a rural landscape in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Extending along Tillinghast Road, a winding two-lane road, southward from its junction with Frenchtown Road, it includes ...
and is available to rent for weddings and other events.
The Museum is situated within the Tillinghast Road Historic District
Tillinghast Road Historic District is a historic district encompassing a rural landscape in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Extending along Tillinghast Road, a winding two-lane road, southward from its junction with Frenchtown Road, it includes ...
. It was designated an engineering history Landmark in 1992 by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...
. In 2001 the Massie Wireless Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
As of August 2022, the president of the NEWSM board of directors is Randy Snow.
References
External links
* {{Official website, 1=http://www.newsm.org/
See also
* List of museums in Rhode Island
This list of museums in Rhode Island encompasses museums defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, ...
Buildings and structures in East Greenwich, Rhode Island
Education in Kent County, Rhode Island
Libraries in Rhode Island
Museums established in 1964
Museums in Kent County, Rhode Island
Steam museums in the United States
Technology museums in the United States
Telecommunications museums in the United States
1964 establishments in Rhode Island