Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Maryland Cockeysville National Electronics Museum
AO Edited

National Electronics Museum

Electronic inventions that resulted in products and systems we use every day are on display in this labor-of-love museum.

Cockeysville, Maryland

Added By
returncorner
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Display at the National Electronics Museum   Daderot on WikiCommons
From the Museum’s collection of phones   bobistraveling on Flickr
An early car phone from Motorola, 1964   Daderot on WikiCommons
Microwave from the 1956 World’s Fair, a joint project of Tappan, Raytheon, & Westinghouse   Daderot on WikiCommons
1960 model of a navigational satellite (from the Applied Physics Lab at Johns Hopkins)   Daderot on WikiCommons
Smith-Corona M-209 WW II era cipher - that is, code - machine   Daderot on WikiCommons
A 3-rotor Enigma Machine, its coding famously cracked during WW II   Daderot on WikiCommons
Tactical Surveillance Radar, one of the Museum’s large outdoor displays   bobistraveling on Flickr
Nike Ajax anti aircraft Missile Radar, c. 1953   bobistraveling on Flickr
Years of electronic advancements distilled in a 1949 Westinghouse TV   Daderot on WikiCommons
It’s not a robot, it’s a World War II era Klyston Oscillator Tube   Daderot on WikiCommons
National Electronics Museum   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
National Electronics Museum   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
  e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
  e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
  e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
  e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
  e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
Playing with a theremin is SO much fun!   e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
  e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
  e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The brainchild of a Westinghouse engineer from Baltimore, the National Electronics Museum was first dreamed up by Robert Dwight as an opportunity to show off his company’s best engineering bells and whistles.

In 1973 Dwight had been working for Westinghouse for over 20 years when he set out to collect and celebrate electronic and engineering marvels of the 20th century, many of which were declassified military projects. But collecting military hardware – even declassified or decommissioned hardware – proved challenging, unless you happened to be a bona fide non-profit public museum. It took a little time to get it all set up, but by 1980, just a few years after Dwight started his round-up of secret and not-so-secret electronics, his little idea to collect, commemorate and display some really Big Ideas was finally realized, and by 1983 it opened to the public.

Dwight had some back-up from other Westinghouse employees and engineers, and luckily they were able to enlist the support of their bosses. Westinghouse (and later Northrop Grumman) stepped up with both financial support and some real estate to house everything. At first the Museum was on the Westinghouse campus and staffed entirely by volunteers. But over the years the Museum expanded and moved a few times, eventually hiring full-time curatorial staff. And throughout its almost 40-year history it has continually collected and preserved some of the most impressive breakthrough technologies.

Now with over ten thousand objects in its collections, including radar and sonar, telecommunications, radio and TV, coding and code breaking, vacuum tubes and Cold War paraphernalia, the National Electronics Museum has quietly fulfilled its mission of honoring the achievements of true engineering pioneers. 

Related Tags

Museums And Collections Museums Electrical Oddities Military History Military

Know Before You Go

The National Electronics Museum recently moved from Linthicum Heights to 338 Clubhouse Road in Hunt Valley, Maryland.

Community Contributors

Added By

returncorner

Edited By

e1savage, Ukrain1an, infoblogscelotehpraja, PKinDC...

  • e1savage
  • Ukrain1an
  • infoblogscelotehpraja
  • PKinDC
  • blimpcaptain

Published

January 8, 2016

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.nationalelectronicsmuseum.org/
  • http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-04-09/news/bs-md-ob-robert-dwight-20140409_1_westinghouse-gibson-island-radar
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Electronics_Museum
  • https://www.celotehpraja.com
National Electronics Museum
338 Clubhouse Rd
Cockeysville, Maryland, 21031
United States
39.485784, -76.663269
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

System Source Computer Museum

Cockeysville, Maryland

miles away

Beaver Dam

Cockeysville, Maryland

miles away

Divine's Headstone

Towson, Maryland

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Cockeysville

Cockeysville

Maryland

Places 3

Nearby Places

System Source Computer Museum

Cockeysville, Maryland

miles away

Beaver Dam

Cockeysville, Maryland

miles away

Divine's Headstone

Towson, Maryland

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Cockeysville

Cockeysville

Maryland

Places 3

Related Places

  • The Lanchester Diploma.

    Durham, England

    The Lanchester Diploma

    The 2,000-year-old pieces of metal are an ancient soldier's military discharge papers.

  • 19th-century hardware shop.

    Lincoln, England

    Museum of Lincolnshire Life

    The charming collection illustrates life in Lincolnshire in the 18th through 20th centuries.

  • Warrenton, Virginia

    Cold War Museum

    This museum sits on the site of a decommissioned military communications base.

  • Museo de la Revolucion.

    Perquín, El Salvador

    Museo de la Revolución Salvadoreña (Museum of the Revolution)

    Military artifacts from the Salvadoran Civil War are displayed in this small but notable museum.

  • The National Museum of Interventions.

    Mexico City, Mexico

    National Museum of Interventions

    A bullet-scarred monastery chronicles Mexico's turbulent history of foreign invasions.

  • Field tools.

    Saint Petersburg, Russia

    Russian Museum of Military Medicine

    Rare documents, old instruments, and gruesome specimens showcase the history of military medicine.

  • Reconstruction of a catapult.

    Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

    Mongolian Military Museum

    Thousands of artifacts tell Mongolia's military history, from the Bronze Age to the present.

  • World War II aircraft

    Belgrade, Serbia

    Belgrade Aviation Museum

    In the hinterlands of Serbia's capital, a giant reflective mushroom houses an aeronautical history of the former Yugoslav republic.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.