Small museum with larger than life personal tour guide to walk you through the interesting life of Thomas Edison. Known for 1 of the 1st inventors of the light bulb and phonographs Edison had over 400 patents. A few of his original inventions are located in this museum and the grounds are lit up at night. Worth the $ 7 entry and discounts are available for active military. read more

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This place was tiny, but powerful! Filled with a lot of history. So close to home and never knew it was there. It took a half hour with the guided tour and she was very knowledgeable about the things of Thomas Edison. The museum is a little small but holds lots of facts About who he was. I recommend it to anyone that wants to learn more history about people that were part of New Jersey. read more

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Had a wonderful experience at this museum. It's small but it's chock full of interesting history. We had the pleasure of getting the tour with both docents Darlene and Steve, and they were both very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. We came on a gloomy/snowy day so there weren't other patrons and it seemed like we got an extended tour, we were there for around 2 hours, but I think normally the tours are about 30-45 minutes. During the tour you get to also go inside the tower and see the lightbulb that's been on since 1929! If you're from the area, it's definitely worth it to go and learn about the history of this place and Edison's inventions. The only down side is that they don't have a bathroom in the building, so you'd have to use the bathroom before you come or use the porta potty. The admission is $7 for adults. They have a vision of building a bigger museum since there's so much more they can showcase and make interactive. read more

Amazing adventure. Take mom, dad and the kids. Beautiful park and trail, informative kiosks.

Hooray, the museum/visitor center had a grand re-opening last year! Not the actual tower, mind you, only that tiny yellow stucco building that looks like a large ticket booth. I have lived in Edison for the better part of my life, and as far back as I can remember the Edison Memorial Tower has always been closed for renovation. To add insult to injury, the museum has exactly four parking spaces, one of which is a handicapped space. Curbside parking is possible, but there are always cars whizzing by since Christie Street is a popular way of bypassing traffic to get to Metropark and the GSP. The museum does have some interesting Thomas Edison memorabilia--but really only enough to fill 10 minutes of your time (more if you're a slow reader, I guess). In any case, I would only recommend visiting if you're already in the area. Unlike the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange, there's really nothing here to warrant a road trip, even if you are a Thomas Edison enthusiast. read more

Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park - At least there's a PokéStop here. - Museums Near Me - Edison, New Jersey

What a surprise! My husband was so excited and I thought oh okay, I'll go. A real joy to spend a couple of hours here on the property and with the very educated docents. Loved the whole experience! read more

I love history, so for me this was a nice experience. I didn't get to see the center itself, just the giant light bulb tower. I enjoyed reading all about this historic spot, as well as seeing the very foundation where Thomas Edison's workshop once was. For most people, they may want a little more pomp and circumstance to the museum. For me, I can't help but marvel at the sheer size of the structure, and daydream about the events that took place right where we stood! Nice sight to see if you are driving through, not to make a day out of. read more

Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park - Museums Near Me - Edison, New Jersey

This is a great supplement to the Thomas Edison Museum in West Orange. I would suggest that you go there first! Come here second, as there is a lot more to see there than there is here at this location. We were lucky enough to come at the right time just as they had started a tour. The tour guide was really animated and it looked like he enjoyed what he was doing. This was better because there is so much to read there and I probably would not have absorbed as much information. It is more intimate in this location than the location in West Orange, they do not do tours there, except at his mansion. After going to the museum in West Orange, I felt that I still learned new things here! Which was awesome. It is a bit tight in the museum so you may not have a full view of the exhibits while on the tour because it can get crowded. I was amazed that people just kept joining our tour and this museum seemed to be pretty popular on a Saturday afternoon! We will have to go on the trail when the weather becomes warmer! And for $5 we spent around an hour and a half here, which I thought was well worth the visit. So cool that his inventions are still working to this day! read more

Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park - Museums Near Me - Edison, New Jersey

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Fascinating and interesting museum. Edison was so much more than just an inventor. He was involved in the first movie making experiences, botany experiments, children's furniture, and a great businessman. I recently read an article about an autistic boy they saw no hope for speaking let alone any independence. Mother pulled him out of school to homeschool and expose him to anything of interest (connecting shadows to the light source and where it was coming from). He ended up having an IQ higher than Einstein! He attends college at age 11 and is the first astrophysicist for his age. And is in also has minimal formal education which allowed his creativity to thrive. He did a TED talk that focused on removing learning and instead creating. Thought provoking really. This is an excellent stop for children and adults alike. You can walk through his workshops fitted with multiple belt setuos that run the machines off of one motor. His personal library is beautiful. Even the informational video next to the store was ask me you and I usually want to bypass those. The video talks about his home which you can also view a few miles away. Also worth a visit from what I hear, but didn't get around to it today. read more

Well, if you are expecting a standard sized museum and a lot to see, this isn't it. When I first got to it, I thought the small house on the side was like a gift shop and drove around looking for a museum. Well what I thought was the gift shop was actually a museum AND a gift shop. There is a charge for $5 for a guided tour. Our docent was amazing. He gave us history of Edison's life and his times at Menlo Park. Edison was in Menlo Park for 6 years making most of his inventions at the factory where the tower is standing. The museum holds a few products that Edison's comoany produced. The docent also took us to the tower where it has a light that never goes out made by his employees dedicated to Edison. The tour lasts about half an hour and also the museum itself is like a size of a big living room so it's really small. I had a great time but if people expect a lot then they will be disappointed. There's another museum in West Orange wherr Edison lives for 40 years that's more like a legit museum that most people may be looking for. read more

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Loved it! We stopped by here on our way from PA to NY there's a suggested $5 donation and you get a 30min+ tour of this little room filled with Edison's inventions. Chuck gave us the tour -it was very informative with lots of fun facts! read more

Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park - Terrible blurry photo but since there aren't any photos up yet... - Museums Near Me - Edison, New Jersey

Lightbulb wasn't on. Not really much here. I did see some deer, and that was pretty cool. read more

Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park - Yup. - Museums Near Me - Edison, New Jersey

What a great tour! We went to the Thomas Edison Museum with our 3rd grade Cub Scouts. Our tour guide, Chuck, did an outstanding job giving the kids (and us parents) a fun and engaging background into all the incredible inventions Edison and his team were able to invent or improve. From the phonograph from which they heard a nearly 100-year-old recoding to tapping out the first letter of their name on the telegraph, they boys stayed captivated. Thank you Chuck for a fun and educational day!! read more

This is an excellent place because it covers over 37 acres in the heart of Edison that includes a secluded wooded park and a stream with beautifully updated trails. After I hiked the two new trails I stumbled upon the newly restored memorial tower that was plays Music. It was as if I traveled back in time to when the tower was built. I took the neat tour outside of the tower and after a few photographs I walked to the museum entrance. All around were different types of plants of many variations which gave me a sense of what I was to expect inside. As I entered I was greeted by the museum staff. From the moment I arrived they treated me not as guest but as a part of their family. I started my tour with 4 other people. The museum is small, but packed with items from the Menlo Park era, I felt as if I was walking in Thomas Edison and his workers footsteps. Every invention let to a grander one. The details that our guide gave to our group were not of a typical museum where they give the facts, show a photo and move on, but they were detailed and filled with important information about the late 1800's in Menlo Park. I was blown away by the fact that this was the first place in the world to have so many groundbreaking inventions, and they didn't even have inside running water! So after 45 minutes my tour was coming to an end and I couldn't have been happier. Everyone in the group was filled with excitement and awe including myself My highlight from this experience was the original phonograph that was playing right in front of my group in the back of the museum. To be honest I wasn't expecting anything like this. The layout of the museum to me was done as a living timeline with hands on experiments which incorporated a modern design that made all of the artifacts pop out one by one. Suffice to say this is on my top five list of place to visits because it is close to so many great restaurants of many varieties and the highway. Thank you for the wonderful time travel back in time. I will visit very soon again with my friends and family. read more

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The museum is not someplace to take young children and especially babies. It is very small and I can understand why they don't allow strollers. One would question why any mother would take a baby to a museum anyway. The "Edison Lighthouse" is something straight out of Weird New Jersey. An Art Deco tower with a large lightbulb on top. You can't go inside so you stand there. They ask for a $5.00 donation. We decided not to go in since we have been at Edison's West Orange lab, Winter Haven and his Menlo Park relocated lab. My only complaint is about the curator. Like I said this place is SMALL. As I was talking to my friend about my visits to the other Edison sites she was constantly correcting me. It was very uncomfortable as I tried to explain to her what I said. I almost paid the $5.00 fee to support the museum, but ended up getting out of there as quickly as possible. read more

It doesn't seem like much when you arrive but the guided tour is fantastic. The docent was super informative and passionate about sharing the history of Thomas Edison and his family. The tower is gorgeous, you can feel the history and walk away with a wealth of information. read more

We visited on the 5th of july and the center was closed :( and the tower was still under construction. So we visited the nature trail. The trail was alot more than we anticipated. It spills out into a little lake where we actually ended up fish watching these crazy huge fish. A well spent afternoon in my book, but quite disappointed about the tower and center. read more

very small (2 small rooms) but very interesting museum on the former site of Edison's Menlo Park laboratory (i believe the 2nd of 5 locations where he had such laboratories in his life - but this is where he made some major advancements such as the first functionak light bulb, hence the name "Wizard of Menlo Park") where he also lived with his first wife until her untimely death at a young age. the admission is $5 but well worth it because the tourguide is great , very knowledgeable and funny. the little museum is jam packed with various examples of Edison's inventions and info about his life, there is also a tiny gift shop at the front where one pays admission. The monument, capped by an enormous lightbulb is currently under restoration as of June 2014. the original buildings thAt were here no longer exist but it is cool to see the place where all this stuff occurred. there is a short nature trail leading into the thick woods of Edison State Park, a pleasant but unextraordinary walk in the woods. The Edison National Historical Park at his West Orange lab site has much, much, much more to see since the buildings are still standing there, but it is still i think worthwhile to visit this Menlo Park site if you are seriously interested in Edison and/or in the process of invention / technology development. when the monument restoration is done the place will look a lot better, it is rather underwhelming now. read more

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Beware all moms!!! Apparently this is an extremely non kid friendly zone. NO STROLKERS are allowed into the facility. Please keep in mind that the museum is very small but a stroller to the side would fit allowing for my other two children to have enjoyed themselves. We did plan on taking a tour just to learn more about Thomas Edison. My daughter has recently learned in school about Thomas Edison. We wanted show some of our history of our local New Jersey towns. There are no markings on the door that indicates that you would not be allowed to bring in a stroller. There are no indication on the website that you would not be able to bring in a stroller. This is a location that should be geared towards elementary school children due to the fact that this is the time in their lives that they are learning about Thomas Edison. We came to the museum today during a large groups visit. Being an extremely reasonable person I definitely would have waited for the group to clear so that my children and I would have been able to have a tour. The museum is small but seems to definitely touch on everything great about Thomas Edison. Instead of a professional person coming to advise us that there was no room for the stroller or for us for that matter I had a woman come in the door behind me ripping it out of my hand hurting my finger. She then in almost an attack told me could not allow me to come in with the stroller. We drove 45 minutes from our home to visit this Museum on my children stay off on what was supposed to be a great family day making memories. Due to This woman "Kathleen's" attitude. We just took a walk on the trail and left. Although my daughter wanted to go through the museum my son had no interest. My son lost it after feeling attacked by this woman. Also not being able to carry around a 7 month old child put a damper on the plans for the day. So for a warning for most moms who have children in elementary school may have another child with a stroller this will not be the place for you to visit. Very sad to see my childhood memories crushed by being run and mishandled by such an unprofessional group. The fact that the stroller was not allowed was not the worst thing to happen. Please understand I obviously would have made different plans for my day, but the attitude and the way I was spoken to was really a unacceptable wait for it to have been handled . read more