The two storey solid wooden building housing the museum today was built in the year 1897 as a fort by the second White Rajah, Charles Brooke to impose peace and order in the region where warfare among the local tribes prevailed.
The Piasau Nature Reserve, situated at what was formerly Piasau Camp at the Miri Peninsula, was officially gazetted on 21st June 2014 as a result of public petitioning.