The SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention is one of the most unusual museums in the Pacific Northwest — a serious collection of antique electrical and radio equipment that ranges from early Leyden jars and galvanometers to the golden age of broadcast radio. The building is packed with working demonstrations, and the staff regularly fire up a high-voltage Tesla coil for weekend "Megashock" shows that leave visitors genuinely awestruck.
The collection traces the history of electricity and radio from the 1700s through the mid-twentieth century. Highlights include a massive collection of antique radios, early telegraph equipment, and a recreation of a 1920s radio station. The museum is genuinely interactive — you can touch many of the exhibits and operate some of the equipment. It occupies a handsome historic brick building in downtown Bellingham, easy to combine with a walk along the waterfront.
story: > The Megashock shows use a 65,000-volt Tesla coil — one of the largest in the world open to the public — that can shoot two-metre lightning bolts on command. The coil's roar is audible from the street outside.