[2] The three-story Connecticut River Museum is located in a restored 1878 steamboat warehouse,[3] which is now the only one of its type remaining on the river, and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[4] The museum opened to the public in 1975, with Connecticut Governor Ella Grasso as its first paid member and ex officio patron.

The core of its collection came from the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut, which provided the museum with a loan of nautical artwork, navigation equipment and maritime-related artifacts.

[3] The museum property also includes a boathouse and a research library.

In December 1995, the museum was given a triangular 1-acre (4,000 m2) waterfront property, valued at US$910,000, in the neighboring village of Old Saybrook, Connecticut, by Bill and Victoria Winterer, who were among the museums co-founders.