The Kolyvansky Local History Museum is one of the oldest in the Novosibirsk region and was founded in 1976. For a long time, it was located in a space of 348 sq. m. In 2014, the museum moved to a renovated architectural monument of regional significance, the house of merchant E. A. Zhernakov, a two-story brick building with an area of 973 sq. m.

In the new building, the museum has placed its exhibition in seven halls, featuring complexes: "The Place of Kolyvani in the History of the Russian State", "The Merchant Class of Kolyvani", "The Life of Peasants in the 19th and 20th Centuries", "The Memory of War Lives in Us", "Kolyvansky District: Paths of Development". The exhibition halls also showcase works by applied arts masters, professional artists, and amateurs.

The museum is well integrated into the historical part of Kolyvani, where restored merchant mansions, the Cathedral of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity, the sculpture of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, and the quarters of Moskovskaya Street with wooden architecture monuments are located. In addition to overview and thematic excursions, routes such as "Through the Streets of the Ancient Merchant City" and "The Road to the Temple" have been developed. There is also an interesting route "Along the Moscow-Siberian Tract to the Ancient Settlement of Chats".

The Kolyvansky Museum has repeatedly won the nomination for "Best Exhibition Project" at regional cultural olympiads among municipal museums. It is visited by about 15,000 people annually. The museum's collection contains more than 18,000 storage units. Approximately 20 tourist agencies and bureaus collaborate with the museum to organize excursion services.

The geography of visitors is quite extensive: in the guestbook, one can find enthusiastic entries not only from the residents of Kolyvani but also from guests from various regions of Russia, as well as from England, Germany, France, China, Mongolia, and Japan.