The museum was founded in the autumn of 1904 as an institution for demonstrating visual aids under the auspices of the "Society for the Care of Children," headed by V.I. Lunin, a well-known public and political figure of Kuban. Initially, the museum had about a hundred exhibits and was located in one of the rooms of the Armavir Women's Gymnasium. Over time, the museum expanded, changed locations several times, and ultimately settled in the Pushkin School, now on R. Luxembourg Street.

In 1911, the museum changed its name to "Armavir Museum of Scientific and Applied Knowledge in Memory of February 19, 1861." In 1920, it transitioned to state funding, and in 1928, it received a new building at the corner of Lenin and K. Marx Streets. The museum had three departments: local history, labor, and sanitary education.

In August 1942, the museum building was destroyed as a result of a fascist air raid, and all collections were lost. In 1948, the museum was temporarily provided with a preserved mansion at 114 Lenin Street, where it remains today. In November 1949, the museum reopened to visitors, and all exhibits were gathered by the post-war team.

The museum's collection includes paleontological finds such as the bones of a mastodon, rhinoceros, hipparion, saber-toothed tiger, and marine fauna. Among them stands out a huge skull of a trogontherium elephant that lived in Kuban 250,000 years ago. Archaeological collections have been gathered from expeditions in the territory of Central Kuban since 1967, including gold jewelry from the Maykop and North Caucasian cultures, Scythian culture, Meotians, and Sarmatians, as well as Alans. A unique collection of stone sculptures of Scythians and Polovtsians, mostly found in the vicinity of the Gorkaya Balka farm, is also presented in the museum. The collection includes a monument of the Cimmerian culture, the "deer stone," as well as black and red lacquer ceramics and terracotta figurines.

Particular value is represented by the collection of weapons from the 18th and 20th centuries, including daggers, sabers, rifles, and pistols from the Caucasian War, as well as weapons from the Civil War and the Great Patriotic War.

The museum's funds also store collections of samovars, predominantly of Tula manufacture, furniture from the 19th and early 20th centuries, "Kuznetsov" porcelain, and an ethnographic collection reflecting the life of various peoples living in Armavir.

The collection of fine arts includes three studies by M.V. Nesterov painted in Armavir: "Marine Landscape," "View of a Ship," and "View of a Mansion."

The collection of icons from the 19th and early 20th centuries is also of interest. Since the beginning of the third millennium, special attention has been paid to replenishing the collection of Orthodox icons, which differ in color and style from icons of the central region of Russia and its North. Among them are "The Trinity," "The Lord Almighty," "The Protection," and others.

The museum also houses a small but significant collection of ancient Russian old-printed and handwritten books, as well as pre-revolutionary editions of magazines and newspapers reflecting the development of printing.