The Bugulma Local History Museum, one of the oldest in the Republic of Tatarstan, specializes in historical themes. It was founded in 1929 in Bugulma and occupies two mansions from the late 19th century. One belonged to court advisor A. F. Yelachin, and the other to merchant F. D. Klimov.

The museum opened on October 1, 1929, as a sanitary and educational institution under the city's health department, with the establishment of a local history department. In 1933, it came under the management of the political department of the Bugulma MTS. During the Great Patriotic War, the museum was closed, and its premises housed an orphanage. From 1946, the museum's restoration began, its collection was replenished with new exhibits, and a department of Soviet history was created.

Today, the museum's exhibition is located in seven halls and covers the history of the city from its first mention in 1736 to the present day. The museum's collection includes household and ethnographic items, weapons from the 16th and 20th centuries, applied art pieces, as well as photographs and documents related to the city's history.

The museum's exhibition hall regularly hosts exhibitions of paintings by artists from the Republic of Tatarstan, as well as traveling and permanent exhibitions.

In 2011 and 2014, the museum received grants from the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan to support creative teams.