The museum opened in 1904, presented by the town to Sir Arthur Dorman as a memorial to his son and the other members of the Yorkshire Regiment who died in the South African wars. The museum's origins were as a collection formed by the Cleveland Literary and Philosophical Society Field Club, whose members had access to a small study collection in their headquaters. The museum started primarily as a natural history collection, made up of specimens from individuals private collections but diversified into other areas like geology and archaeology.