The local history museum in the city of Nazarovo was opened on April 10, 1970. It was founded by Pyotr Vasilyevich Zarubkin, a history teacher at secondary school No. 4 and a veteran of the Great Patriotic War. On February 21, 1990, the City Council of People's Deputies of Nazarovo decided to create a state local history museum. The first exhibition hall named "The Past of Nazarovo" opened to visitors on May 9, 1990.

In May 1991, a creative association of Nazarovo artists and masters of decorative and applied arts was organized at the museum. Since then, the museum has hosted exhibitions of works by masters from Nazarovo and other regions.

On October 6, 1994, the museum received the status of "Museum and Exhibition Center" of the city of Nazarovo (MUNICIPAL BUDGETARY INSTITUTION OF CULTURE "MEC").

Currently, the Nazarovo Museum and Exhibition Center has more than 12,500 exhibits reflecting the history and local studies of the Nazarovo district and Krasnoyarsk Krai. Over 6,000 exhibits have been presented at the center's exhibitions and traveling exhibitions.

The Nazarovo Museum and Exhibition Center includes six exhibition halls: the "Flora and Fauna" hall with exhibits on nature, paleontology, archaeology, and mineralogy of the Nazarovo district and Krasnoyarsk Krai; the "The Past of Nazarovo" hall dedicated to the history of the district from the founding of the city to the end of the 19th century; the "Pre-War Nazarovo" hall with materials on the history of the city from the early 20th century to the Great Patriotic War and about famous Nazarovo residents; the "Defenders of the Fatherland" hall telling about Nazarovo residents who participated in the Great Patriotic War, the Afghan War, and fallen soldiers in the post-war period; the "Exhibition Hall" where works by artists and masters of decorative and applied arts from Nazarovo, the Nazarovo district, Krasnoyarsk Krai, and other regions of Russia and abroad are displayed; and the "Modern Nazarovo" hall dedicated to the history of the city after the war, its enterprises, and outstanding workers.