In the 19th century, during the active development of industry in Russia, the Machine Factory for towing and shipping was founded in 1849 on the lands of the Balakhna district, near the village of Sormovo. Due to the rapid growth of factory settlements in Sormovo, a church was built in 1882 in honor of the holy prince Alexander Nevsky, designed by architect P. P. Malinovsky.

The construction of the church proceeded quickly: the first stone was laid on April 24, and by December 30 of the same year, the church was consecrated. In addition to the main altar dedicated to Prince Alexander Nevsky, there was a second altar in honor of St. John the Baptist. In 1887, the construction of a 43-meter bell tower was completed.

By the end of the 19th century, the church could not accommodate all the parishioners, and by 1905, the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral, also designed by Pavel Malinovsky, was erected.

In 1924, the Alexander Nevsky Church in Sormovo was closed, and a school was opened in its premises, later housing a cafeteria for factory workers. The bell tower was dismantled. Unlike many other churches returned to believers in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Sormovo church was handed over to the Russian Orthodox Church only on July 17, 2003. On December 21, 2013, the restored church was consecrated anew.

Currently, the church is a monument of regional architectural significance, and by 2018, the restoration of the bell tower was completed.