History

On 17 November 1979, Suðurnes Heritage Museum officially opened in Vatnsnes, Keflavík. The museum was a cooperation of two municipalities, Keflavik and Njarðvík. The house at Vatnsnes, where the exhibition was opened, was one of two properties the museum received as a gift upon its founding. The other is located in Innri-Njarðvík and still belongs to the museum.  In 2002, it was decided to change the name of the museum to Reykjanesbær Heritage Museum,  as that name better defines the museum's area of operation.

The lead-up to the establishment of the museum in its current operational form was quite long. The museum's roots can be traced back to the year 1944. On 17 June of that year, the same day Iceland declared independence, the Keflavík Heritage Museum was founded by the local youth association.

In 1967, a committee was appointed to establish a local museum in Njarðvík. The National Museum urged the municipalities on the peninsula to set up a joint local museum. In the end, however, only a consensus was reached between Keflavík and Njarðvík.  An agreement to the cooperation was signed in 1978, and just over a year later the museum opened its doors.

Many individuals put in immeasurable efforts to keep the museum running through the years. In Keflavík, Helgi S. Jónsson led the work on behalf of the youth association together with Skafti Friðfinnsson and Kristinn Pétursson. Later Ólafur A. Þorsteinsson,  Guðleifur Sigurjónsson, and Hilmar Jónsson joined in the efforts as well as  Guðmundur A. Finnbogason, Áki Granz, Friðrik Ársæll Magnússon, and Oddbergur Eiríksson from Njarðvík.