The weather station was built in 1897 during the Japanese rule of Taiwan. For a very long time, the building had been remained unused. The Tainan City Government designated it a municipal historic site in 1998, and it became a national historic site in 2003. It later opened as a museum, and was closed for six months to repair damage from the 2016 southern Taiwan earthquake. On 31 March 2019, it was reopened to the public.