The museum was opened on October 1, 1992, thanks to the efforts of many people, especially veterans and organizer L.I. Esipova, who gathered the rich history of the region here.

The idea of creating the museum arose in 1985 when society believed in perestroika and cultural revival. In January 1986, at a meeting of the veterans' council, the initiative to create a museum in Kilmez emerged. Lydia Ivanovna Esipova, a member of the USSR Union of Journalists and a retiree, became the initiator and first director of the museum. Residents of the area actively responded to the request to provide antique items for the future museum, and the collection of exhibits began. War and labor veterans took an active part in this, as the history of the region was especially close and understandable to them. The issue of a location for the museum was not resolved immediately. For a long time, the exhibits were stored in the Esipov family home. Only thanks to the persistence of the veterans' council and the district administration, as well as the support of the district consumer cooperative members, a vacant building of a former shop, previously owned by merchant I.M. Vygodchikov, was transferred to the People's House, where the museum was established. Despite numerous problems, they were gradually resolved.

At the time of opening, the museum featured departments of history, archaeology, natural geology, and ethnography.

Over the years, the museum developed and changed. In 1998, a diorama with animals and birds of the region was opened. In October 2004, the Hall of Military Glory and a collection hall were established, along with new exhibitions: "How a Shirt Grew in the Field," dedicated to flax cultivation, and "Vegetation of the Kilmez Region," showcasing all types of trees and shrubs in the area.

In 2006, restoration was carried out, and the exhibition "This is What the Kilmez Land is Famous For" was opened.

Today, the museum includes one collection room and four halls: history, nature, exhibition, and the Hall of Military Glory.

The museum building, constructed in the late 19th century, is one of the most beautiful in Kilmez. It was a former merchant shop owned before the revolution by merchant I.M. Vygodchikov, although it is not an architectural monument.

The museum offers tours: "Nature of Our Region," "History of Peasant Life," "Before the Revolution, Kilmez was a Remote Settlement...", "Our Region During the Establishment of Soviet Power and the Civil War," "Kilmez During the Great Patriotic War," "They Fought for the Motherland" about Kilmez residents, Heroes of the Soviet Union, "Our Settlement Today," and "Old Houses Still Live" along the streets of the settlement.