Bell Telephone Memorial, Historic site in Brantford, Canada.

The Bell Telephone Memorial is a historic site in Brantford featuring a large sculpture with allegorical figures depicting the power of communication through telephone technology. The site includes interpretive panels in multiple languages that explain the significance of each sculptural element and Bell's contributions to technology.

The Bell Telephone Memorial Association, formed in Brantford in 1906, commissioned the monument after a 1908 competition among 22 sculptors on two continents; Toronto sculptor Walter Seymour Allward won. Planned for 1912, it was finished five years later with studio assistant Emanuel Hahn, and Governor General Victor Cavendish unveiled it on 24 October 1917. Fundraising in a city of 30,000 collected over $65,000, including a $10,000 federal contribution backed by Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier.

Brantford calls itself "The Telephone City" because Canada's first telephone factory, run by James Cowherd, operated there from about 1879 to 1881. The memorial became a focal point for civic events, and the city's name for Bell's invention is still used locally. The monument honours both the inventor and the invention, with the emphasis on the latter.

The memorial stands outdoors in Brantford, so plan around the weather rather than opening hours. A flight of steps climbs to the main tableau, and the flanking female figures sit on granite pedestals to either side; allow time to walk around the whole composition. Daylight makes the carved allegories easiest to read.

The memorial honours a living man, which was unusual at the time: monuments were normally raised only to imperial leaders. Its dual dedication to Bell and to the telephone, with the emphasis on the invention, is thought to have persuaded the normally modest Bell to attend the unveiling on 24 October 1917.