Begun in 1971, with donations of money and many items from throughout the county, the museum held its first open house in March of 1973 at the Buena Vista location where it resided for nearly twenty years. In 1991, the museum moved to its present location; a new building on Blue Ridge Street which houses both the local library and the museum.

As an asset belonging to all the people of Patrick County, the museum contains old photographs, newspapers, tools, books, and countless other artifacts, all in a modern, climate controlled setting There are artifacts from the Civil War through WWII; weapons, uniforms, photographs and Civil War Regimental histories.

The genealogy section contains family histories compiled by a number of noted genealogists, and there are birth, death, and marriage records that have been extracted from the courthouse records including nearby counties. A computer holding many family data bases can be accessed by staff to search for relatives.