It was built in the sixteenth century as a protection against attacks by pirates and privateers French and English continuously terrorizing the locals. It stands on a hill in the southernmost tip of seawall surrounding the coast of Puerto Plata, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Its strategic location served to protect the entrance to the port of the city during the colonial era. It is one of the oldest strongholds of the New mundomI

The Fortress of San Felipe is the only building that survived the destruction of the city of Puerto Plata in 1600 at the hands of the Spaniards. Witnessed addition to the fire that ravaged the province in 1863 during the War of Restoration against the Annexation to Spain. During this armed struggle, the strength becomes important to serve as a connection for the entire northern region of the Dominican Republic. It was remodeled and rebuilt several times during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, until it was declared as Dominican cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture of the Dominican Government in 1965 and qualified as a museum open to the public since 1986.

The fort is named after Philip for being the king Felipe V in the Spanish throne when starting construction. During the nineteenth century, this building served as a prison, which were held important personages of the wars of independence and restoration, in particular, the Father of the Dominican Independence, Juan Pablo Duarte. The room in which he was imprisoned is now an attractive space preserved in the museum.