The district council executive committee decided to open the local history museum on March 5, 1960, and on April 22 of the same year, the museum officially opened its doors. More than three hundred local residents donated valuable historical materials to the museum. The museum was named after Nikolai Dmitrievich Tomin, a commander during the Civil War.

Since 1966, the museum has been located in the former house of the Shakhrin brothers, which was recognized as a monument of regional historical significance by a resolution of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR on December 4, 1974. The modern exhibition of the museum offers visitors a chance to learn about the history of the Kurtyamyshev district. There are halls dedicated to the ancient history of the area, the development and settlement of the region, crafts and trades, as well as the interior of peasant life from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The interiors of the merchant Alexei Zavyalov's shop and the home of the clerk Nikolai and Anna Tomin have been recreated.

A separate hall tells about the participation of Kurtyamyshev residents in World War I and the establishment of Soviet power in the region, as well as the life of N.D. Tomin, after whom the museum is named. Another hall is dedicated to the history of the district during the Great Patriotic War, featuring materials about war participants, Heroes of the Soviet Union, and workers on the home front. The museum's exhibition hall regularly hosts changing thematic exhibitions. In recent years, the museum has significantly updated: new exhibitions and modern museum equipment have appeared. During a visit in 2011, rock musician V.V. Shakhrin, the great-grandson of the first owner of the house N.I. Shakhrin, noted: "I was very pleased that the family estate is in excellent condition: both the residential house, built with exquisite taste, and the brick storeroom have been preserved."