The Altai State Local History Museum began its work in 1823. Its creation was made possible by the initiative of Pyotr Kozmich Frolov, who was the Tomsk civil governor and head of the Kolyvano-Voskresensky factories. Significant support was provided by Friedrich August von Gebler, a doctor and researcher of Altai. This marked the beginning of the formation of historical, technical, and natural science collections. The museum is the oldest in Barnaul and one of the oldest in Siberia.

The museum's first exhibition included over 100 items from the daily life of the indigenous peoples of Siberia. Models of mining machines, as well as collections of mineralogy, zoology, and ethnography were also presented. Many famous travelers and scientists of the 19th century visited the museum, such as Karl Friedrich von Ledebour, Wilhelm Humboldt, Pyotr Petrovich Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, and Alfred Brehm. In 1879, the museum participated in an anthropological exhibition in Moscow, where it received a silver medal.

In 1907, a significant part of the museum's collection was transferred to the Imperial Tomsk University and Tomsk Technological Institute.

Since 1915, the museum has been located in the building of the former Main Chemical Laboratory of the Altai Region, constructed by architects Yakov Nikolaevich Popov and Ivan Maksimovich Zlobin in the mid-19th century. In 1920, the museum became accessible to the general public.

Today, the museum's collection includes nearly 200,000 exhibits. The core of the exhibition consists of collections on the history of mining in the 18th and 19th centuries, including unique exhibits such as models of the steam-atmospheric machine by I.I. Polzunov and the mine of the city of Zmeinogorsk. A model of the minting machine of the Suzun Mint with a set of dies was made in 1825 and 1827 at the request of P.K. Frolov. A particular pride of the museum is the library of the Kolyvano-Voskresensky factories, which features autographs from major European researchers of the 18th and 19th centuries.

A separate collection is dedicated to the history of the Kolyvano Stone-Cutting Factory named after I.I. Polzunov, which was the center of Russian stone-cutting in the 19th century. Here, one can see a bowl made of gray porphyry from 1815 and a commemorative vase made of dark purple porphyry, created for the 150th anniversary of the factory. The archaeological exhibition covers the history of ancient Altai from the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages. The ethnographic collection includes materials about the peoples of the Altai Territory. The museum regularly hosts thematic exhibitions, tours, and master classes.

The museum features several permanent exhibitions:

"Ancient Altai," an exhibition telling about the ancient history of the region. Visitors can see mammoth bones, the horns of a broad-horned deer, as well as authentic weapons and tools. Tourists will learn about the lives of ancient people in the territory of modern Altai.

"Mining and Factory Production of the Late 19th and Early 20th Century," a tour dedicated to the history of mining and factory work in Altai, the founding of Barnaul, and notable people who lived and worked in the region.

"Trade in Altai in the Late 19th and Early 20th Century," an exhibition about the development of trade and famous merchants of that time.

"Nature and Man," a section where one can learn about the animal and plant world of the Altai Territory.

The museum also features exhibitions "Farmers," "Gebler, Doctor and Researcher," "Peoples of Altai: Kumandins," "On Star Orbits. German Titov," and an exhibition about the outstanding designer Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov titled "Man, Legend."