This local history museum dates back to a community effort to create a museum by four women's organizations in the 1950s. The museum opened in 1958 and opened in its current location in 1965. The museum is located in the McMurry House, a ten-room Victorian home built in 1895 for a local merchant. Docents provide free tours anytime the museum is open. Museum staff are also happy to help local residents with genealogical research.
The museum includes displays of military history, women's history, antique furnishings, and displays related to Grinell-area businesses including carriages built by the Spaulding Carriage Factory and a washing machine built in the Great Depression by the Grinnell Washing Machine Company.