Founded and managed under the leadership of Father Georges-Antoine Belcourt (1803-1874), the Farmer's Bank of Rustico was established on April 21, 1863.

Belcourt's innovative ideas also gave rise to dozens of seed grain banks in Acadian communities in the 1860s, including one in Egmont Bay that was a precursor to the later co-operative movement in the Evangeline region of the Island.

[4] The Bank also anticipated Mouvement des caisses populaires acadiennes, a 200,000 member network of credit unions in New Brunswick.

In the view of MacDonald, "the steady availability of cheap credit for thirty years enabled the predominantly Acadian community to attain economic independence.

Admission to the museum includes a tour of the adjacent Doucet House, which was moved to the site in 1999[7] from its original location on Grand-Père Point.