The museum was established by Adalar Municipality, Adalar District Governorship and a local foundation in the scope of European Capital of Culture project,[1] and was opened on September 10,2 2010.

[3] In the entrance hall, there are aerial photographs and the basic information of Adalar.

The fossil of an almost 400 million years old fish species Dunkleosteus, which was discovered by English geologist W. S. Swan in the 1860s inside sandstone formation in the southwest of Büyükada,[2] is an important example of this collection.

[1] According to museum page, the number of written documents is 20,000 and the photographs 6,000.

[4] A section was added for the popular football player from Büyükada, Lefter Küçükandonyadis (1924–2012), on 24 June 2012, just a few months after his death.