We are very blessed to have the Edison Birthplace Museum in Milan. Thomas Edison remains one of the most well-known names in science, having invented, among other things, the electric light system, the phonograph and motion pictures. He patented 1,093 inventions in all.
Thomas Alva Edison’s parents Nancy and Samuel Edison purchased the lot upon which they built the house in 1841.
Thomas was born in the house, as was very common in that day, on February 11, 1847. The house stayed in the family until 1854, when it was sold and the family moved to Port Huron. Forty years later, in 1894, Edison’s sister, Marion Edison Page, bought the house. She made improvements by adding bathroom and other modern amenities. Thomas Edison purchased the home in 1906, but surprisingly did not modernize the house and was shocked to find on his last visit that the house still had lamps and candles rather than electric lights!
After his death in 1931. Edison’s widow Mina Miller Edison, and their daughter, Mrs. John Eyre Sloane, became engaged in opening the house as a memorial museum to the inventor. The Edison Birthplace Museum opened on the one hundredth anniversary of the Thomas’ birth in 1947.
The museum is restored to match the time period in which Edison lived in the house. It is furnished with donations from family members and friends as well as items purchased to match the period. Most of the family’s original furniture was destroyed in a terrible fire in Port Huron, so the donations and purchases were necessary to give the house it’s vintage look.
You can have a preview of the museum by taking a virtual tour. When you come to Milan to visit the Thomas Edison Birthplace Museum from February through December (it’s closed in January), make sure to stay with us at Angel Welcome Bed and Breakfast. We will welcome you warmly!