The museum has existed since 1965, and its first two years of operation were under the "Lanrest Museum" title. In 1982, Alberton Hisorical Preservation Foundation Inc was established in order to operate the community museum. The foundation owns the musum which consists of the lands on which it stands, the building itself and most of the collection it preserves an interprets. The buiding which houses the museum was once the Town Courthouse. It's been designated as a heritage building both provincially and through national Historic Sites and Monuments.

The foundation for the Alberton Museum's collection arose out of the collection of Mrs. Eileen Oulton. The museum has over 5,000 artifacts in its collection of which 80% has been accessioned. The museum continues to make additions to its collection. It also has a large collection of genearlogical records of local families with over 15,000 index cards of genealogical information.

Artifacts found in the collection of the Alberton Museum include porcupine quill work baskets, clothing and textiles, fox industry artifacts, photographs, glassware and a large collection from the pioneer Meggison family.

Log book from sailing ship "Nancy" recorded by Captain Alexander F. Larkin in the year 1974. In it Larkin notes details of sea voyages he made around the globe. Captain Larkin drowned in the 1840's while transporting a cargo of lumber from Miramichi, New Brunswick to England.

This toy collection exhibits a doll that is approximately two-hundred years old. Other artifacts in this display include a miniature doll cradle, various card games, a dresser for doll clothes, clothes-pins for dolls, a straw hat and snowshoes for dolls, a miniature tea set, and other doll-related artifacts.

A collection of Mi'kmaq artifacts. When Europeans first came to Eastern Canada in the fifteenth century, they encountered native people who had been living here for at least 11,000 years. The French named the people they met "mik maqs" meaning allies. An Algonquin speaking tribe, they led a semi-nomadic life, making the inlets and bas along the shores of Prince Edward Isladnd their residence. They called P.E.I. "Abegweit" meaning "cradled on the waves."