The Alexin Art and Local History Museum was founded in 1974 and opened its doors to the first visitors in December 1980. It is located in the historical part of the city in a three-story mansion that previously belonged to the first guild merchants, the Maslovs. This building is a monument of architecture from the era of mature classicism and has been included in the list of objects of historical and cultural heritage of federal significance since 1997.

The museum's collections number over 22,000 items, including the main and scientific auxiliary funds. Here, archaeological, numismatic, paleontological, and geological collections are gathered, as well as works of painting, graphics, sculpture, decorative and applied arts, and ethnographic and household items. The museum also houses memorial collections dedicated to outstanding locals, such as the Bobrishchevs-Pushkins, Lvovs, Stechkines, Shchedrins, General G. P. Korotkov, Professor V. Snegirev, ethnographer S. A. Tokarev, writer Zoya Voskresenskaya, and others.

The museum's exhibition includes 13 permanent halls and 5 halls for temporary exhibitions. The nature department presents materials about the paleontological past, geological structure, mineral resources, water resources, flora, and fauna of the Alexin district. The historical department showcases tools and household items of people who lived in the area during the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages, as well as exhibits reflecting the life of the ancient Slavic tribe of Vyatichs. A separate section is dedicated to the history of Alexin in the 14th and 17th centuries when it played a key role in protecting the borders of the Moscow state. On the second floor, exhibitions tell about Alexin in the 18th and early 20th centuries as a merchant city.

The department of modern history shows the economic and cultural life of the city during the Soviet period. The section "Alexin during the Great Patriotic War" narrates the feats of the Alexin residents and events in the city and district in November-December 1941, when Alexin was occupied by German-fascist troops. The interiors of the merchants' grand bedrooms and living rooms demonstrate the lifestyle and customs of the wealthy provincial merchant class.

The museum-exhibition department presents works not only by local artists connected with the Alexin region but also by well-known contemporary painters from Tula, Kaluga, and Moscow, such as G. Dolenzhashvili, E. Bernstein, V. Konev, Yu. Novikov, V. Shcherbino, and others. Since 2007, the museum has housed the only "Museum of Postal History" in the Tula region, which tells about the development of postal communication from the Middle Ages to the present day, as well as the history of letters, stamps, mailboxes, and postmarks. It is visited by more than 1,500 residents and guests of the city annually.