Telephones came to the newly opened District of Temiskaming almost as soon as the pioneers themselves.  Many small companies were started to meet the communication needs of the small communities in the area.  They were started by businessmen or by a cluster of farmers.  One of the first was at the McKelvie-McCamus sawmill when they got tired of yelling between the office and the mill over all the noise of the machines.

Wires were strung on fence posts or on the trees until proper pole lines and poles were constructed. Over the years, Northern Telephone purchased all the smaller companies and eventually controlled the whole area for local services.

This display depicts some of the changes in equipment from the earliest days of the telephones right up to the present day with the electronic or digital and wireless telephones of today.