A meeting on 7 December 1896 was attended by influential local citizens to establish an Historical Society for the Peterborough area, in commemoration of John Cabot's landing in Newfoundland. Colonel H.C. Rogers was elected President, and Mr. T.A.S. Hay was chosen Secretary, while Mrs. Catharine Parr Traill was named Honorary President.

   The "Town and County of Peterborough Historical Society" held its first regular meeting a month later, at which time Mrs. Traill and others donated  artifacts and documents for a proposed Society museum.

   With financial support from both the Peterborough town and county councils, the Historical Society opened the Victoria Museum in part of Inverlea House, former home of the Nicholls family. The museum's dedication was held on the actual day of Queen Victoria's Diamond Anniversary (22 June 1897).

   While the Victoria Museum was a successful venture, the Society's health was continually in question -- only a few poorly attended meetings were held, and many membership dues were owed. Secretary Hay considered the Society "rather dormant" by the close of 1898.

   The situation apparently had not changed by the 1908 annual meeting when President T.A.S. Hay reported that the Society coffers were virtually empty (resulting from 2 years' widespread non-payment of dues), and scathingly remarked that but for the Museum, there was no reason for the Historical Society to exist.

   Mr. Hay's comments seem to have spurred a flurry of lectures and presentations by members. However, sometime after its 4 November 1909 annual meeting, the Peterborough Town and County Historical Society died. The last sign of official Society activity came in 1911, when it requested that the Victoria Museum's contents be moved from the structurally unsound Inverlea House to the new Carnegie Library.

   1953 saw the rise of the new "Historical Society of the City and County of Peterborough" - today the Peterborough Historical Society. Members, under the leadership of Anne Heideman, began rebuilding Peterborough's decades neglected museum collection, and promoting the idea of a new building to house it.

   In 1961, Society members were instrumental in establishing the "Peterborough District Historical and Art Museum Foundation" to help fund a new museum's construction, to preserve the collection, and to provide a focus for future donations of objects, art, and documents. The unincorporated Historical Society transferred ownership of its collection to this Foundation in 1966.

   The Historical Society was invited to send delegates to Peterborough's City and County Centennial Committee, and several held key positions. Because of public suggestions, this committee's main focus became the creation of a new area museum. Despite a general agreement on need, location was contentious. Armour Hill was proposed as a "neutral" site for both the city and county participants, but the County eventually pulled out of the joint enterprise to develop its own Centennial museum project -- Lang Pioneer Village.

   The new Peterborough Centennial Museum was owned and run by the City of Peterborough, but its first 2 directors were prominent Historical Society members: Anne Heideman (1967-74) and Ken Armstrong (1974-5). A deterioration in relations between the City and the Historical Society/Museum Foundation over Centennial Museum operating policies led to a decline in Society participation in museum matters.

   In the late 1960s, the Peterborough Historical Society shifted its energy to another museum project -- Hutchison House. In 1969, the 1837 stone house at 270 Brock St. was bequeathed to the Society by Jeanette Connal Brown, great-granddaughter of its second owner. In order to turn back time over 130 years and make Hutchison House a credible living history site, it needed a complete restoration and refurnishing. Historical Society members embarked on major fundraising and acquisition campaigns over the next decade. On 24 May 1978 Hutchison House Museum first opened to the public. It is still a central focus for the Peterborough Historical Society, and has become an important area attraction.