The Russian village of Annino Verkh Seleznikha was founded in 1826 during the active settlement of vacant lands beyond the Volga. By 1837, the village, which belonged to the Orthodox parish of the neighboring Varvarovka, had 56 households and 501 residents: 254 men and 247 women, all single householders. In 1840, a wooden prayer house from Varvarovka was moved to Annino Verkh with the permission of the landowner Muromtsov. The priest and the deacon were accommodated in public houses, and an apartment was rented for the second deacon. In 1847, the parishioners built a cold wooden church on a stone foundation with a bell tower and altar in honor of Nicholas the Wonderworker.

In 1893, a mixed one-class church school was opened instead of the male parish school, which from 1898 was located in a specially built building. In 1896, a decision was made to build a new wooden church. The famous Samara architect T. S. Khilinsky oversaw the construction, and in 1899 a cold temple with a bell tower, accommodating up to 800 parishioners, was erected. The altar in honor of Nicholas the Wonderworker was consecrated by the local archpriest, and in 1903, Bishop Tikhon of Nikolaev conducted the great consecration.

In 1906, a project was approved to expand the church by adding two symmetrical chapels. Another well-known Samara architect, A. A. Shcherbachev, led the construction. After the reconstruction was completed in 1907, the local archpriest consecrated one of the chapels in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The expansion was made possible thanks to the parishioners and benefactor M. S. Sosulnikova. The updated church could accommodate up to a thousand people and was surrounded by a wooden fence.

The parish consisted of a priest living in the church house and a psalmist, who was provided with an apartment due to the dilapidation of his house. There were also a watchman's lodge, utility buildings, and a mixed school funded by the community. In 1910, Annino Verkh had 220 households and 1542 residents: 810 men and 732 women. By this time, in addition to the church, school, mill, and zemstvo station, a charitable institution had appeared in the village. In 1913, a zemstvo school was opened.