In 1923, the residents of Kirzhach made their first attempt to create a folk museum. At that time, the Kirzhach Historical and Domestic Museum was located in the former Annunciation Cathedral, and its exhibition consisted of ancient church utensils and icons collected from local churches.

The modern "Kirzhach District Historical and Local Lore Museum" opened in 1991 in one of the classrooms of the Children's Creativity House. Soon, there was a need to find a separate building for it. In 1993, the museum was provided with the former mansion of the Vinokurov merchants in the center of Kirzhach, where a savings bank had previously been located. This two-story building, a monument of architecture from the second half of the 19th century, has preserved its original exterior decor, including multi-profile cornices decorated with "drying racks," pilaster strips at the corners of the building, and a belt of large wide strips between the floors.

The museum features a variety of exhibitions that tell about the history of the Kirzhach region, its significant events, and notable locals. The exhibition "So the Candle Does Not Go Out. The History of the Holy Annunciation Monastery" is dedicated to the founding of Kirzhach and its churches, starting with Sergius of Radonezh.

The exhibition "Kirzhach, a Merchant City" tells about merchants such as Solovyovs, Arsentievs, Pichugins, Dumnovs, and Smirnovs, who contributed to the development of silk and copper-brass factories, engaged in charity, and built schools and hospitals. Here you can see the trademarks of factories, reports from the sobriety society, 19th-century magazines, household items, furniture, samovars, a gramophone, a Singer sewing machine, and Kuznetsov porcelain.

The exhibition "Kirzhach, the Homeland of S.M. Prokudin-Gorsky, Pioneer of Color Photography" is dedicated to the noble family of Prokudins-Gorsky, whose estate was located in the village of Funikova Gora. Sergey Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky is known for his color photographs of Russia, the negatives of which are stored in the Library of Congress in the USA. The exhibition features his photographs, books, postcards, and albums.

The exhibition "Peasant Life" demonstrates the life of village residents, their tools, and folk craft products, including Argun carving and works by Kirzhach embroiderers.

In the exhibition "Cosmonauts in Kirzhach," books written by cosmonauts Yu.A. Gagarin, A.A. Leonov, A.G. Nikolaev, and G.S. Titov are presented, as well as letters from Gagarin's mother and other personal documents. Here you can see newspapers and magazines about achievements in cosmonautics, a spacesuit, samples of cosmonaut food, and other exhibits. A detailed exhibition about cosmonauts is located in the museum's branch, the Memorial at the site of the death of Yu.A. Gagarin and V.S. Seryogin.

The Kirzhach Museum offers programs with theatrical games and master classes, as well as interactive tours, such as "Venerable Sergius of Radonezh, Founder of the Kirzhach Holy Annunciation Monastery," "Inspired by Russian Epics," "Wait a Minute, Monsieur" about the Kirzhach region during the Patriotic War of 1812, "Once Upon a Time" about Kirzhach in the Great Patriotic War, "Wonderful Bast Shoes" about bast weaving, "Karavai, Our Karavai" about bread-making, "Come On, Master" about Argun masters, "Feather of the Firebird" about silk weaving, and "In a Peasant's Hut."