Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site

Across the water from Baddeck, in Nova Scotia, on a green headland of Bras d'Or Lake, stands the summer estate where one of the 19th century's greatest inventors chose to live out much of his later life. Alexander Graham Bell was born in Edinburgh and gained fame for the telephone, which he patented in 1876, but he also worked on teaching deaf students, on aeronautics and on fast boats. He fell in love with the scenery of Cape Breton and built a large home, Beinn Bhreagh, near Baddeck, where he worked until his death in 1922. The Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site stands at 559 Chebucto Street, within the village itself, and is operated by Parks Canada.

The museum, opened in the 1950s, displays a large collection of Bell’s artefacts, models, documents and photographs. Its exhibits cover his work on the telephone, his research on sound and speech, and his family life with his wife Mabel Hubbard Bell, who was deaf and who supported and helped finance many of his projects. Visitors learn how Bell combined scientific curiosity with practical experiments, and how his ideas ranged across fields.

The highlights are the objects from Bell's work in aviation and fast water travel. Bell and his associates in the Aerial Experiment Association built the Silver Dart, which took off from the ice of Baddeck Bay in February 1909 and made the first powered flight in Canada and the British Empire, and the AEA, as the Aerial Experiment Association was known, is covered in displays about the aircraft and the earlier tetrahedral kites Bell tested. The hull of the HD-4 hydrofoil, built with Casey Baldwin, is also displayed. In 1919 the HD-4 set a marine speed record of more than 70 miles per hour that stood for a decade, and the long, narrow hull gives a sense of how far ahead of its time the craft was.

The site's setting adds to the visit, with views across Baddeck harbour and the lake. Interpretive displays and a theatre help explain Bell's life, and staff offer tours at certain times of year. Check the Parks Canada website for the operating season and tickets before planning a visit.

Baddeck is the usual starting point or end point of the Cabot Trail, so the museum is a natural stop on a drive around Cape Breton. Families, technology readers and anyone curious about the history of invention will find a lot here.