The National Museum had its early beginnings as the Raffles Library and Museum. It was opened on 4 September 1874 to the public and occupied three rooms on the upper floor of the Town Hall. In 1878 an ordinance was passed placing the establishment directly under government control.
In its early years, the collection at the museum covered fields in archaeology, history, anthropology etc. The different curators had found that it was not easy balancing the dual role of museum curator and librarian. In 1908 the title "Curator and Librarian" was changed to Director of the Raffles Library. The first step to separating the library from the museum was taken in 1953 when rubber magnate Lee Kong Chian offered to subscribe $375,000 towards the foundation of a new library. In 1955, the library and the museum were administratively separated.
In December 1960, the Raffles Museum was formally renamed the National Museum. For a period of four years, it was under the Ministry of Science and Technology, until April 1972 when it was put returned under the Ministry of Culture. It was decided that the museum was to be a repository of the nation's cultural heritage, and not a research institution, so the zoological collection was transferred out of the Stamford Road building. That collection is now housed in the National University of Singapore.
