Thomas Alva Edison Birthplace Thomas Alva Edison Birthplace The Thomas Alva Edison Birthplace is a historic house museum at 9 Edison Drive in Milan, Ohio, Built in 1841, it was the birthplace of American inventor Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) was born on February 11, 1847. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. It is now the Thomas Edison Birthplace Museum. The Thomas Alva Edison Birthplace is in a residential area north of downtown Milan, on the west side of North Edison Drive. It is a small 1-1/2 story brick building,
Thomas Edison often credited with establishing the first industrial research laboratory. Edison was raised in the American midwest and early in his career he worked as a telegraph operator, which inspired some of his earliest inventions. In 1876, he established his first laboratory facility in Menlo Park, New Jersey, where many of his early inventions would be developed. He would later establish a botanic laboratory in Fort Myers, Florida in collaboration with businessmen Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, and a laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey that featured the world's first film studio, the Black Maria. He was a prolific inventor, holding