It was founded by the Friends of Gotland's Antiquity society in 1875, at the initiative of Pehr Arvid Säve.

The purpose was to collect historic artifacts and everyday objects connected to Gotland as well as documenting immaterial aspects of life on the island.

Houses, farms and other buildings have been left to the museum in wills and through donations, and the number of members in the society have increased from a handful to over 2,400 in 2015.

The initiator was P A Säve and the purpose of the society was to collect all kind of objects that had been used in everyday life in the past on Gotland and preserve them for future generations.

Folktales, songs, traditions, craft skills and other aspects of life on the island, past and present, were to be written down in books, journals and notes, and collected in an archive.

[9] The following year, on 22 May at five o'clock in the afternoon the society had a meeting where it was decided to rent some kind of premises for the collections.

[5] As of 2015[update], the Friends of Gotland's Antiquity owns the entire block surrounding the Picture stone Hall which is the modern museum.

These were partly demolished, rebuilt, added to or converted, giving the block its present layout.

The system with these types of distilleries did not last long and in 1813, part of the block was sold to a merchant and starting from 1830, the rest of the houses were used as storage for weapons and ammunition by the Swedish army.

[14] After having bought the first house, Fornsalen, for their exhibition in 1880, the Gotlands fornvänner society continued to buy and add buildings within the block and extend the museum.

[15] The building at Sankt Hansgatan 21, was built in 1847–58 by architect C Bergman to house the first volksschule in Visby.

The museum collection consists mainly of paintings and arts and craft with a connection to Gotland, starting from the early 19th century up to the present time.

[18] The Kapitelhusgården (the Chapter House Manor) was the residence of the bishop of Linköping on his visits to Visby during the Middle Ages, and is mentioned as such for the first time in 1432.

[19] The house functioned as the town's firewood depot, well into the 19th century and was hence nicknamed "the bishop's woodshed".

[26] As of 2015[update], the farm is an open-air museum during the summers, hosting markets, jousting tournaments and private events.

The farm has been in the same family since 1728, and when the last owner, Martha Johansson died in 1995, she left it to Gotlands Fornvänner.

The publications from the house can be in any relevant language, and collaborations with museums and institutions from other countries are common.