The museum specialises in the Atlantic slave trade, and opened in April 1999.

The Kurá Hulanda Museum was an initiative of Jacob Gelt Dekker.

Dekker decided to buy the derelict buildings on the quay and market, restore the buildings to their original condition, and open a museum at the site specialising in the Atlantic slave trade.

[2] It consists of 15 buildings,[2] displaying the history from the capture in Africa to the relocation in the Americas.

[3] Dekker bought most of the buildings on the hillside,[1] and opened the luxury Kurá Hulanda Hotel & Lodge next to the museum.