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BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – On Bay Street in downtown Bellingham stands a museum known for its artifacts and replicas collected throughout the history of radio and electricity.
Though the museum is famous for its collection, it remains unknown to many in Whatcom County.
“A lot of people in Bellingham have never been here. They might have heard of it, but they haven’t been in, yet we’re world renowned. That’s the funny thing is that among science or electrical historians and collectors, it’s like coming to Mecca to come here,” said SPARK Museum co-founder, John Jenkins. “The most common comment I hear when people come in [is] ‘My God, this is like the Smithsonian. I had no idea that this was here in Bellingham.'”
At the age of 13 years old, Jenkins began collecting radios. As soon as he could drive, he would travel to dumps and antique stores to load up his grandmother’s car with new finds.
As time went on, his interest became less radio-centric and more about electrical invention. He looked up major milestones and sought to trace back all the way to static electricity and important historical inventions like Edison’s lightbulb. Although he was fully immersed in the world of radio and electricity, Jenkins was not as immersed in his classes.
“I basically spent most of my life proving to the rest of the world that I wasn’t stupid,” Jenkins said. “I didn’t do great in school; I had a pretty short attention span and was always goofing around, playing pranks and never doing my homework. It wasn’t until college that everything changed.”
Jenkins reflected that he graduated from Sehome High School with close to a 2.5 GPA, but once he was enrolled in college classes his love of electrical engineering, electronics and technology left him with straight A’s.
After graduation he lived in Seattle, working for Hewlett Packard for 12 years and Microsoft for 15 years. At Microsoft, Jenkins ran worldwide sales and marketing and traveled all over the world. He went to museums every chance he had, meeting with curators and collectors all over the world.
During his time living in Seattle, Jenkins visited Whatcom County often to see his parents. He had fond memories of visiting Bellingham as a kid—his mom would take him into town for groceries, back to school shopping and around the holidays.
When the heart of Bellingham was mainly a commercial and retail center, Jenkins described the feeling of venturing downtown as mesmerizing. However, after the Bellis Fair Mall was built, he noticed downtown “drying up and blowing away in the wind,” describing it at its worst as something reminiscent of a ghost town.
“There was not much going on [in] Bellingham at all, and it just broke my heart. I wanted to give something back to the community and have something that would bring people [back] downtown.” – John Jenkins
From his time traveling, he knew that the typical path out of that situation was moving from a predominantly commercial core into a cultural and residential center.
Jenkins was close with Jonathan Winter, who had owned the Bellingham Antique Radio Museum for decades, through their shared love for radios and electricity. Previously, Jenkins had an offer from Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, to open the museum in Seattle at South Lake Union, but knew that he wanted to open it in Bellingham.
In 2001, Jenkins retired and co-founded the American Museum of Radio and Electricity with Winter on Bay Street. The museum started off as a small collection of Jenkins items and Winter’s radios and sound phonographs from the Bellingham Antique Radio Museum.
For over a decade, the museum was known as a radio museum and this meant that visitation mainly consisted of retired folks, collectors and anyone interested in radio. In 2012, the museum rebranded to the SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention and bought a “MegaZapper,” creating a show to go along with it.
After making that change visitation drastically grew, nearly quadrupling in size. The museum remained rooted in radio while also sharing the wonder and mystery of electricity and invention in an interactive way. The museum’s co-founder is all about using the space as a way of inspiring kids to get excited about science.
Jenkins’ goal is for all 4th graders in Bellingham and Whatcom County School Districts to come through the museum, just like they would any other field trip. He feels that the museum is sometimes the most impactful with kids, and hopes things continue that way. The museum is made for the kid who just wants to push buttons, see lights light up and hear sounds just as much as it is for the kid or adult who is interested in the physics or science behind the exhibit.
Jenkins has taken the visitor experience a step further over the years through the curation of reproductions and interactive replicas. One of Jenkins’ favorite replicas is an Electric Treatment shock machine near the museum’s front entrance. He shared that he especially loves it because it’s something friends and families can do all together.
“[In my life] I was just always trying to be the best I could be at whatever I was doing, and here it’s all about sharing it with people, especially with kids,” Jenkins said.
Though he isn’t there every day, the co-founder tries to come in for at least one field trip a week. He shared that he feels sorry for the bus drivers and teachers, because although kids typically come in subdued, the MegaZapper Show typically gets the children wound up for their ride back to school.
Jenkins shared that is gratifying to see that there are kids who have visited years ago who are now studying science. He went on to explain that even if they don’t study science, the objective is to make them curious.
Above all else, Jenkins hopes for two things: for the SPARK museum to live on, and to be remembered as a great dad by his children.
One of his favorite memories as an inventor father is a time where he was building a fusion reactor in his garage. As it was running the garage was flashing and as the pandemonium died down his youngest daughter said, “Now I know what Thor’s daughter felt like.”
As far as Bellingham goes, he hopes that the memory and love for the museum only continues to flourish.
“I just hope that people remember the SPARK Museum and the SPARK museum will live on long after I’m gone. Be a place that people can come and enjoy—hopefully there’ll be somewhere around here with my name on a plaque.”
We are Whatcom is a weekly column featuring Whatcom County residents making a positive impact on the community. To submit a Whatcom County resident to be featured, click here.