The front portion of the present-day Jean P. Haydon Museum was originally the Commissary Store, known as Navy Building No. 43, which was erected in 1919. The rear portion of the museum was originally a garage (Navy Building No. 24). When the Department of Interior took over governance of American Samoa in 1951, the commissary in Fagatogo became the Pago Pago Post Office. A new post office was constructed across the William McKinley Memorial Highway in 1971, and the former commissary and garage were consequentially converted into a museum, named after the wife of Governor John Morse Haydon. The west wing of the structure was extended in order to add an exhibit space, and a mural in front of the west wing was made by artist Sven Ortquist and depicts a scene from Samoan mythology. A traditional Samoan fale was set up in front of the museum entrance.