The museum focuses on teaching experiments that are the roots of design and invention, featuring hands-on building projects and exhibits on Whitney and A. C.

The Armory produced firearms for 90 years until it started losing competition to Winchester Repeating Arms Company in late 1880s and aging son of the inventor Eli Whitney Jr. sold the factory to them in 1888, who promptly closed it down.

The grounds, which span both sides of Whitney Avenue and cross the Mill River, still feature the old barn, stone coal shed and boarding house which date back to the days of Whitneyville and the operational armory, along with a reconstruction of Ithiel Town's innovative lattice truss covered bridge erected on the original pilings of one of the two bridges built to service the Eli Whitney Armory.

In addition to visitor hours, the museum hosts summer and holiday programs and birthday parties, and is home to the annual Leonardo Challenge, a celebration of improvisational creativity that invites artists and designers from the New Haven, Connecticut area to create uncommon inventions and designs from common objects, culminating in an exhibition of their creative efforts.

[6] Apprenticeship alumni include Jennifer Oxley (Emmy Award-winning children's TV creator), Emily Oster (Economist), and Joshua Revkin (Star World Champion sailor).