The museum was founded by then collector of the Mathura district, Sir F. S. Growse in 1874.

[1] The museum houses artifacts pottery, sculptures, paintings, and coins primarily from in and around Mathura, plus discoveries made by noted colonial archaeologists like Alexander Cunningham, F. S. Growse, and Fuhrer.

[1] The museum is famous for ancient sculptures of the Mathura school dating from 3rd century BC to 12th century AD., during Kushan Empire and Gupta Empire.

[2] today it is one of the leading museums of Uttar Pradesh.

[3] The Government of India issued a postage stamp on 9 October 1974 on the centenary of the museum.