[2] The museum's location was formerly the site of a late 12th-century motte and bailey castle, built in 1160 to protect the Tay crossing.

In 1930 an architecture competition took place and was judged by Sir James John Burnett, a Scottish architect.

A Perth firm, Smart, Stewart & Mitchell, won and the extension was begun with the laying of the foundation stone by lord provost Thomas Dempster on 2 December 1932.

[6] Work continued between 1933 and 1935,[7] and it was opened on 10 August 1935 by the Duke and Duchess of York,[6] the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

[8] The museum collection includes the South Corston fragment of the Strathmore meteorite and the mummy of a woman named Ta-Kr-Hb.