In 1867, George Marshall purchased the John Hancock Warehouse and surrounding land on the York River. Next door, he built the George Marshall Store where he sold general merchandise as well as wood, building materials, and coal. The store remained in the Marshall family until 1954 when it was sold.

In the years following it served as home to the York Art Association, a gift shop, and the offices and research library for the Old York Historical Society, In 1996 curator Mary P. Harding revived the gallery space with changing contemporary art exhibitions as well as occasional collaborative projects with the museum’s curator in which they blend historical themes and objects from the museum’s collections.