The Transportation Museum was originally located in an abandoned storage building and opened to the public in 1959. It moved to its present 5 acre facility, funded by donations raised through the Army Transportation Museum Foundation, in 1976. Since then, the foundation has also provided a large aircraft pavilion in 1984, which displays nearly twenty historic aircraft. A major addition was added to the museum in 2004 which included an additional 14,000 square feet of exhibit space, a new collection storage area and new offices for the foundation. The museum also maintains storage space in an off site warehouse complex.

The Army Transportation Museum artifact collection numbers just under 7000 objects, plus another 1,000 exhibit props. The collection includes over 90 macro artifacts ranging from planes, helicopters, tugboats and landing craft to trucks, jeeps, hovercraft and trains. Approximately 25% of the museum collection comes from general public donations, while the remainder comes through transfers and other sources. The museum ranks as one of the largest museums in the Army Museum system and typically has about 25% of its collection on display. Some of the unique items in the collection include the only surviving gun truck from the Vietnam War and the only surviving hovercraft to see combat in Vietnam. The museum also houses a unique collection of experimental aircraft and the first helicopter to fly at the South Pole.