The Derry Museum of History was originally established in 1976 by the historical society to celebrate the bicentennial of America. For a quarter century, under the leadership of Ralph Bonner and Donald Houston, it was housed on the upper floor of old West Derry Fire Station. In 2004 the collection was moved to the lower level of the Benjamin Adams Memorial Building. The museum is now under the management of the Derry Heritage Commission.
The Museum's collection contains thousands of documents, photographs and artifacts from the earliest days to the present. We have a display of items related to the Native American including a dug-out canoe that was found at the bottom of Beaver Lake. We also have rooms that are devoted to our schools, military history and modes of transportation. In 2008 we opened a room to honor Alan Shepard-America's first man in space.
