Less than one year later, the Santa Maria Aeronautical Museum and Exhibits was chartered.

[1] The museum initially opened in 1988 as a gift shop in the Santa Maria Airport terminal building.

[4] A second hangar, built as a set for the movie The Rocketeer, was brought in from a different location at the airport and by 1994 was being renovated for use by the museum.

[11][a] While the museum was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic it added a new member of the board of directors and replaced the roof and siding on one of the hangars.

[13][14] The Edward J Horkey Memorial Research Library is located in the museum's Early Aviation Hangar and holds over 4,000 books.