The first wooden church in the name of Nicholas the Wonderworker was built in 1712, 38 years after the settlement was founded by immigrants from the Nizhny Novgorod region. The church underwent reconstructions and repairs in 1750 and 1890. In 1842, its clergy included priest Alexander Dmitriev Predtechensky and deacon Pavel Stefanov Lentovsky, and in 1858, priest Vasily Yakovlev Smelov and deacon Ivan Golosnitsky.

The National Archive of the Republic of Tatarstan holds a unique document on the history of the Nikolaev Church, its main inventory compiled in 1899. It is interesting not only for its description of the existing wooden church at that time, covered with iron and clad with shingles, measuring 19.2 m in length and 6.4 m in width, with eight windows, two doors, and one stove, but also for mentioning the new stone church under construction with an iron roof, measuring 32 m in length and 21.4 m in width. The new church was 1.7 times longer and 3.3 times wider than the previous one, with twenty windows, four doors, a three-tiered bell tower, and two gilded iron crosses. The wooden church was surrounded by a wooden fence on a stone foundation and had five bells. The largest of them weighed 32 poods 20 pounds, or 533.2 kg, and had inscriptions: "from the factory of Saratov merchants, in the city of Saratov, brothers Gudkov, master Vasily Kemenyev, year 1881" and "I proclaim great joy to the earth, praise the heavens for God's glory; proclaim day by day the salvation of our God; I have loved the beauty of Your house and the place of the dwelling of Your glory." The bell featured images of cherubs, the Mother of God, Saint Archangel Michael, and the holy unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian.

The altar of the church was leaning due to time, and the yellow silk antimins on the altar was consecrated in 1885 by Archbishop Palladius of Kazan. In the altar was the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God, the icon of the unmade image of the Savior, and other cult items, totaling 17 icons. In the pre-altar three-tiered iconostasis with gilded cornices and carvings, there were 15 icons, including an ancient icon of the Prophets with four faces and faded inscriptions. In other places hung 27 icons, some of which were distinguished by their antiquity and rich decoration. The inventory also mentions 9 lamps, 12 candlesticks, 1 chandelier, 2 analogies, 9 altar crosses, 17 various liturgical vessels, 32 names of tabernacles and accompanying items, 4 censers, and other ritual utensils. In the sacristy were kept 6 Gospels, the oldest of which was printed in 1694 in Moscow, and the others, between 1875 and 1896.