The memorial museum-guardhouse was opened in 1989 in honor of the 175th anniversary of Taras Shevchenko's birth. The museum is located in a building constructed in 1843 for the needs of the engineering unit. It was here, in April 1851, that the famous poet and artist was held under arrest for participating in the Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood.

The museum's exhibition recreates the typical environment of a guardhouse in the 19th century, including a small cell for the arrested and a guard room. Massive forged bars, depicted in one of Shevchenko's drawings, are installed on the windows. At the entrance to the guardhouse from the main street stands a realistic mannequin of a Cossack in the armor of that era. The main hall features materials that detail various stages of Taras Shevchenko's life. Here, one can see documents about his stay in Orsk, participation in the Aral Expedition, life in Orenburg, and the seven years spent on the Mangyshlak Peninsula.

Taras Shevchenko was arrested at the guardhouse for violating the imperial ban. Nicholas I prohibited the exiled poet from writing and drawing, but inspired by his participation in a scientific expedition, Shevchenko disobeyed and created several portraits of the residents of Orenburg.