In 1875 a group of citizens organized themselves as the Bennington Historical Association with a list of tasks that included building a monument to the Battle of Bennington and founding a museum. The monument was formally dedicated in 1891, but it took another 38 years before the doors opened on the museum. Originally housed in a converted Catholic church, the museum has undergone numerous expansions to accomodate its expanding mission, collections, and activities. Today the museum boasts a collection of over 60,000 items with such noted collections as Bennington pottery, American glass, Vermont furniture, Grandma Moses paintings, the Wasp automobile, and much, much more.