In 1889, at the initiative of Pyotr Alabin, a monument to Alexander II was erected in the square, which became the first monument in Samara. After the revolution, it was boarded up and dismantled, and on the freed pedestal, a monument to V.I. Lenin appeared. The author of this new monument was the famous sculptor M. Manizer. He recreated Lenin's image based on newsreels and photographs taken in Gorki, presenting him in an unusual everyday appearance for that time. In 1929, A. Ulyanova-Elizarova visited Samara and approved the monument, noting that it was "very similar in appearance."