[1] Local merchant Adam Arbuthnot left a collection of his personal items to the town upon his death in 1850.

[1] The possessions were stored in several homes in the town until the library and museum building was completed.

[2] The building was designed by Aberdeen architect Duncan McMillan in the English Renaissance style and built between 1891 and 1893.

[1] In 1889, three Peterhead men wrote to Andrew Carnegie, asking for his help in building a new free public library for the town.

[1] As of November 2024[update], the building is temporarily closed[4] while its former library is moved to Arbuthnot House,[5] located a short distance to the southeast, on Broad Street.