The museum is located in the historic Courtney Hotel. The project was begun in 1991 and the museum opened in 1992. The first floor of the hotel was completely remodeled to provide museum space, a community center, and gift shop. The Ghost Town Hall of Fame is located in the museum and gives a pictorial history of Montana's ghost towns.

The Granite Mountain Mining exhibit was added in 1996. This 4000-sq-ft ara consists of an underground mining tour, an exhibit of early mining eqipment and a grand mural of the famous ghost town of Granite. There are nearly 20 ghost towns within 30 miles of Philipsburg, including Granite, Tower, Garnet, New Chicago, Southern Cross and Georgetown.