The Mountain Gateway Museum was opened to the public in 1971 by the Old Fort Historic Site Committee to interpret pioneer lifestyles, the westward movement of settler, and the growth and development of the mountain region. The museum building was constructed by the WPA in the 1930s on the purported site of the fortification built by Gen. Griffith Rutherford's men. Originally used as a community building, the structure was donated to the Historic Site Committee by the town of Old Fort in the mid 1960s, and a combination of local and state funds were used to develop the site. Later the Stepp and Morgan cabins were moved to the property adjacent to the museum building. In 1982 the state of North Carolina acquired the museum property and the Mauney House, on the south side of Mill Creek. Plans called for developing the site into a service branch of the North Carolina Museum of History. Known as the Mountain Gateway Museum Service Center, the complex today serves both the general public and non-profit museums in western North Carolina. 

The Old Fort Railroad Museum, housed in the circa 1890 depot, traces the growth of the railroad and its dramatic impact on the town, and includes original hand tools, signal lights, furniture, signs and an authentic caboose.