The museum, opened in 1971 as a public institution, became a branch of the Saratov Regional Museum of Local Lore in 1990. It is located in a separate two-story building in the city center, constructed in the second half of the 20th century. In the bright and spacious halls, covering about 400 square meters, exhibitions and displays are arranged. The museum's collections, numbering over 8,000 items, include materials on the history and culture of the city of Arkadak and the Arkadak district. The museum possesses a variety of collections of artifacts and photo documents, as well as unique exhibits.

The collections showcase the history and culture of Arkadak and the Arkadak district. Among them are household items of peasants and the intelligentsia, dishes, an interesting collection of irons and stuffed field mice, furniture from Prince Vyazemsky, results of archaeological excavations by local schoolchildren, rare photographs from the early 20th century, documents, and a large collection of coins and paper money. The museum also displays paintings by local artists and much more. The exhibits are divided into themes: "Peasant Economy and Life at the End of the 19th and Beginning of the 20th Century," "The Charm of Bygone Days," dedicated to the intelligentsia of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, "Let Us Bow to Those Great Years," "The Old Apartment," "Arkadak Today."

Among the exhibits are household items of peasants and the intelligentsia, dishes, rare photographs from the early 20th century, front-line letters, documents, a collection of coins and paper money, paintings by local artists, and other valuable items. The oldest exhibits include a mammoth tusk found in the village of Krasnoe Znamya, a Sarmatian sword, and others. Of particular historical and cultural value is the antique furniture: the table of the first postmaster of the Arkadak district, Larionov, chairs from General Raevsky's estate in the village of Rostashi, and the table of the manager of the distillery of Prince Vyazemsky. The Rogovskoye Forestry gifted the museum a magnificent cabinet.

In the museum's halls, visitors can learn about the history of the region and discover many interesting facts about the past of Arkadak land. Permanent exhibitions include: "Peasant Economy and Life at the End of the 19th and Beginning of the 20th Century," "The Charm of Bygone Days" about the life and customs of the intelligentsia of Arkadak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, "Let Us Bow to Those Great Years," focusing on the Arkadak district and its residents during the Great Patriotic War, "The Old Apartment," depicting an apartment from the late 1950s and early 1960s, and "Arkadak Today," covering the economy and culture of the district at the turn of the century. The museum's art gallery features paintings by local artists.

The topics of lectures and excursions are diverse and consistently attract interest from visitors. Museum staff organize traveling exhibitions, accompanied by lectures in the villages of the district. Traditional meetings from the series "Evenings in the Old Apartment" are held, inviting notable locals, members of labor dynasties, and veterans of war and labor.

For younger schoolchildren, the museum hosts a club called "Flower of Seven Colors" and an Orthodox lecture series "Let the Soul Be Troubled." The local history museum actively promotes a healthy lifestyle in collaboration with the Center for Social Protection, district departments of education, culture, and cinema, the cultural center, and the library.

One of the most interesting exhibits of the museum is a diorama depicting a giant ancient amphibian and dinosaurs from the Mesozoic era in their natural environment. The creators of the diorama were likely artists from Atkarsk, G. D. Shcherbinin, Yu. A. Petrov, and P. I. Vyacheslavov, who participated in the artistic design of the museum. A curious fact is that none of the depicted land reptiles, such as ceratosaurus, diplodocus, tyrannosaurus, struthiomimus, and stegosaurus, could have lived in these regions, unlike their marine relatives, whose skeletons are often found in Jurassic and Cretaceous deposits of the Lower Volga region. Nevertheless, the diorama is a beautiful decoration of the Nature Hall of the AKM and consistently attracts the attention of young visitors.