It is dedicated to Tesla, who was born in 1856 in his Serb parents house in Smiljan, then part of the Kingdom of Croatia within the Austrian Empire.

The Memorial Center was opened to the public on the 150th anniversary of Tesla's birthday, 10 July 2006, by the President of the Republic of Croatia.

[2] The original memorial site was first established as a museum in 1956, but it was damaged during the Croatian War of Independence when a projectile fell on the commercial building next to Nikola Tesla's house.

The fire was eventually put out by the Croatian Army who deposited furniture and other objects it saved in the Museum of Lika.

[3] The Croatian authorities restored the complex and reopened it in a 2006 ceremony, with the highest dignitaries of Croatia and Serbia attending.