In the historical center of Nikolsk, there is a two-story building that houses the A.Ya. Yashin Historical and Memorial Museum. This mansion, which the museum moved into in 1997, was built in 1835 by merchant G.M. Leshukov. At different times, it housed various institutions including the local government offices, treasury, children's home, infectious disease department of the hospital, police administration, prison cells, residential apartments, and a bank.

The A.Ya. Yashin Historical and Memorial Museum was opened in 1989, based on two independent museums: the local history museum and the memorial museum. The richness of the museum's collection is vividly reflected in the exhibition sections.

Visitors can learn about the history of the district town through photographs by Vologda photographer I.I. Yakubov, taken between 1905 and 1909.

In 1894, Nikolsk had three stone churches, 375 houses, of which four were stone, a spiritual school, a women's progymnasium, municipal and church parish schools, a charitable institution, a hospital, one distillery, and two brick factories. The residents engaged in agriculture, crafts, and worked at the wharf. Nikolsk was famous for its trade: grain, timber, flax, resin, tar, and other goods were exported from here.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Nikolsk district became a place of political exile. At different times, critic and publicist N.V. Shchelgunov and the well-known traveler, geographer, and ethnographer G.N. Potanin served their exile here.

A small hall of the museum is dedicated to the Orthodox history of the region. Currently, there is one functioning church in Nikolsk, the Kazan Church. The 18th-century Sretensky Cathedral, contemporary to the city, was once its center and dominant feature, but it has faced a difficult fate: the building has burned several times.