The museum was opened on 4 November 2004 by the Taipei County Government as Gold Ecological Park (Chinese: 黃金博物園區).

After the formation of New Taipei City, the park was renamed Gold Museum, though as of December 2015, some signage still shows the old name, including the front entrance gate.

The museum buildings used to be offices, dormitories, processing plants and other facilities of the Taiwan Metal Mining Corp.

The Gold Building provides information about the discovery of gold in the area, with displays on the Benshan Tunnels, old mining equipment, mining transport systems and a brief introduction to the World War II Japanese Kinkaseki POW Camp on its first floor.

The museum is accessible by bus from Ruifang Station of the Taiwan Railways.