Early Television Museum

Visit the Museum

The museum is now open Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 12-5. Come visit us.

Short videos showing some of what the museum has to offer Your Visit to the Early TV Museum

Location: 5396 Franklin Street, Hilliard, Ohio (a suburb northwest of Columbus). Here are maps showing how to get to the museum.

Hours: Saturdays from 10 to 6, Sundays from noon to 5. We are not presently open by appointment at other times.

Admission Charge: Adults will be charged $10; seniors (65 and over) and active duty military personnel will be charged $8, and children (under 12) will be charged $5. Museum members and their families are free. Group rate of $6 per person for groups of 20 or more.

Contact Us: (614) 771-0510. info@earlytelevision.org. Mailing address 5396 Franklin Street, Hilliard, Ohio 43026.

The Early Television Museum is located at the beginning of the Heritage Rail Trail bike and hiking path that connects to another park a few miles away. Eventually the trail will be extended to a total length of about 30 miles.

Over 150 TV sets are on display in a 6000 square foot area. Displays include mechanical TVs from the 1920s and 30s; early electronic British sets from 1936-39; early electronic American sets from 1939-41; postwar sets from1945-58; and early color sets from 1953-57. Many of these sets are working. 

The Dave Johnson collection of early television picture tubes is also on display, along with early TV studio equipment.

Audio Tour

Each area in the museum has a self-guided audio tour

See TV Sets in Operation

As you enter rooms in the museum, some of our TV sets will come on.

Monitors run short videos of the screens of mechanical, prewar, and early color sets

Articles and Videos Featuring the Museum Panoramic views of the museum's displays CRT power hoist Our parking lot has been repaved Museum gets a new roof The Museum's video playback system Early Television Conventions Early Television collectors How much is my old TV set worth?

Display Areas

Mechanical Sets

British early electronic

American early electronic

American postwar

Color sSets

Broadcast Equipment

The Library

The museum also has a library of books and other documents relating to early television. They are available to researchers by appointment. Here are lists of the items in the library:

Books Magazines, Pamplets, etc.

Early Television Museum

5396 Franklin St., Hilliard, OH 43026

(614) 771-0510