The Boy Scouts of America plans to move more than a century of Scouting history from Irving to New Mexico.

The group said Monday that it will move its National Scouting Museum, which opened in 2002, to the Philmont Scout Ranchnear the town of Cimarron in northern New Mexico. Philmont has served as an adventure destination for Scouts for decades.

An expansion of the Philmont Museum and Seton Memorial Library is expected to begin next year to make room for the Boy Scouts' collection, which contains more than 600,000 items — including the nation's largest collection of Norman Rockwell paintings, the first Eagle medal and nearly every uniform in Scouting history.

Officials said more people will get to see the collection at Philmont, which has more than 32,000 visitors a year.

1 / 8The Scout Law and Oath are displayed in the lobby of the Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum in Irving. (2015 File Photo/Brandon Wade) 2 / 8A display of 251 merit badges, some are no longer are given at the Boys Scouts of America National Scouting Museum in Irving. (2015 File Photo/Brandon Wade) 3 / 8Visitors can race pinewood derby cars on a six-lane track at the National Scouting Museum. (2015 File Photo/Brandon Wade) 4 / 8The Boys Scouts of America National Scouting Museum in Irving has the nation's largest collection of Norman Rockwell paintings. (2015 File Photo/Brandon Wade) 5 / 8A camping exhibit at the National Scouting Museum. (2015 File Photo/Brandon Wade) 6 / 8A statue of a Boy Scout stands in front of the National Scouting Museum. (2013 File Photo/The Associated Press) 7 / 8Scouting garb from the 1900s-40s is on display at the National Scouting Museum in Irving. (2015 File Photo/Brandon Wade) 8 / 8The Order of the Arrow exhibit at theNational Scouting Museum. (2015 File Photo/Brandon Wade)

The museum's location in Irving, which has also been home to the Boy Scouts of America headquarters since 1979, was constantly working to bring in visitors.

"We are sort of off the beaten path," museum director Janice Babineaux said in 2014. "We're not down in the center of Dallas or Fort Worth where the mainstream art galleries or museums are. We've got to go that extra mile to create awareness."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.