First known as the Museum of Science and Technology and later Ferrymead Historic Park, it was founded in 1964 by a collection of local heritage enthusiast groups who had a common need for space to store and display their assets.

On major event days (typically once a month) the societies provide an interactive experience for visitors.

[1] Guest can take tram or train rides, see demonstrations of typesetting and printing, use heritage telecommunication equipment, see a working model railway, and more.

The railway, opened to steam trains in 1863, was a service built on 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) gauge rail that connected the Bridle Path to the wharves at the Heathcote Estuary.

[5] However, the opening of the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel relegated the Ferrymead tracks to little more than a branch line, and the service was closed in around 1867.

[9] The museum initially planned to open to the public in a large warehouse on Garvins Road in Hornby in October 1965,[10] but vandalism at the site[11] delayed this to March 1966.

[12][13] The location in the Heathcote Valley had been on the table from as early as October 1964,[14] but existing train tracks and buildings at Hornby had made that a more viable option in the short term.

[15] This quick move was because the museum had received an unexpectedly large amount of interest from heritage equipment owners keen to provide exhibits, and so needed a larger site to accommodate them all.

It relied almost entirely on fundraising and volunteers from member organisations contributing their time and expertise to maintain the exhibits.

[17] Additionally, many of the organisations that moved to the park were not interested in supporting it as a commercial tourist venture; rather, they saw it as a convenient place to have clubrooms and store equipment.

[17] This meant exhibits were open at uncoordinated times, or for only a few hours a week, limiting the interest of the park to public visitors.

[23] In 2024 the park again came up against major financial difficulties, this time attributed to low public attendance in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and a reduction in funding from local and central government agencies.

[26] The Diesel Traction Group owns and preserves a number of English Electric diesel-electric locomotives on the site.

The society also maintains and operates the trams that run in the central city on the Christchurch tramway system, with the support of the Ferrymead workshop.

They maintain historic telephone exchange switching equipment including a manual switchboard and an automated rotary system.

A large amount of land in the area, including the heritage park itself, is owned by the Christchurch City Council.

[30] Since the involvement of the Christchurch City Council, portions of the unused land surrounding the park have been sold or leased for development by other recreational businesses including a golf club and paintball field.

In 2024 a large area of unused land was set aside for ecological restoration into a wetland as part of the Ferrymead Regional Park.

The raised location known as "Woods Hill" was formed artificially by the large-scale compacting of refuse dumped there over a number of years.