The museum complex named after I.V. Panfilov is located in a two-story building built in 1880, and its history is closely linked to the history of the city of Petrovsk. Initially, there was a four-class city school here, where Vanya Panfilov, the future legendary commander of the 316th Rifle Division, studied from 1901 to 1905. During the Great Patriotic War, the building was used as evacuation hospital No. 1692, and in peacetime, it housed secondary school No. 3 of Petrovsk.

On the first floor of the museum, there are exhibitions dedicated to the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Here, you can see unique exhibits and photographs from the wartime. The modern interactive exhibition allows visitors to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of those years: they can stand in a soldier's trench, see the great Panfilov, and hear his conversation with the political officer that took place on November 17, 1941, after the battle of the 28 Panfilov men.

The second floor of the building is dedicated to halls that tell the history of the city of Petrovsk in the Saratov region from its founding in 1698 to the present day. Currently, a hall of noble culture is fully equipped, showcasing household items, furniture, and paintings taken from noble estates and merchant houses of the Petrovsky district.