The museum was originally founded in 1879 and housed on the top floor of Kirkcudbright Town Hall.

The museum houses one of the oldest surviving sports trophies in the United Kingdom called the Siller Cup.

The Stewartry also houses a significant archive relating to local, family, civic, and social history, including early modern Borough Records with references to numerous witch-trials and attendant incarcerations in Kirkcudbright Tolbooth.

The numerous bygones and natural history specimens from local fresh and saltwater habits are a well loved aspect of the museum.

[7] The museum also has casts made from rock art carvings at High Banks Farm which has several groups of cup and ring marks.