 The museum was opened in December 1891 and was expanded in 1895 to hold Franklin Fairbanks' full collection

In part, the museum's tradition of reporting the weather and atmospheric conditions comes from Fairbanks's own practice of doing so.Much of the main collection in the museum comes from Fairbanks's own collection, for which the museum was originally built to house.The Lyman Spitzer Jr. Planetarium was completed and opened in 1960, located on the second floor overhanging the front entrance, and was renovated between 2018–2019, expanding capacity and improving comfortability of the domed theater.