The museum building, constructed in 1953 according to the design of architect Zoe Osipovna Brod, originally served as the cinema "Rodina," which opened on February 21 of the same year. The basement housed ticket offices and an artist's workshop, while the second floor featured a buffet.

The "Rodina" cinema was a venue for various events: it showcased feature and documentary films, hosted sessions of the city council, conferences, meetings with deputies and artists, children's New Year matinees, and ceremonial gatherings, as well as a film lecture hall for youth and the "Rovesnik" club. It was here that the first anniversary of the city of Salavat, its tenth anniversary, was celebrated.

The idea of creating a museum of the city's history was first proposed on July 1, 1960, by historian and local lore expert Gaziz Mukhamedyanovich Galin in the newspaper "Lenin's Path." In the 1960s, exhibitions on the city's history were held at the House of Culture "Neftekhimik" and in schools. In September 1966, the bureau of the city committee of the Communist Party approved the organizing committee for the museum, instructing the city council to find premises within a month. The museum was planned to open in 1968 for the city's 20th anniversary, but the project was not completed, and schoolchildren were taken on excursions to museums in neighboring cities.

The question of opening the museum was raised again in 1986, starting the reconstruction of the first floor of a residential building on Pervomayskaya Street. On September 15, 1989, an exhibition by Mikhail Samuilovich Shneiderman opened here, marking the beginning of the art gallery's operation.

In 2004, a resolution was adopted to reconstruct the "Rodina" cinema into a historical and local lore museum. To beautify the square behind the cinema, a historical fountain and a monument to Gorky were demolished, and the pedestals of the first city sculptures were removed. The reconstruction of the cinema was prolonged, but thanks to the public and recommendations from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bashkortostan, the work was completed by December 2008. Since May 8, 2008, the museum has been part of the "Art Gallery."

The museum opened on June 12, 2009, and its collections hold over 4,000 exhibits, including paleontological, archaeological, numismatic, and ethnographic collections, as well as books, cult objects, photographs, and personal belongings of famous individuals. Among the exhibits is a bust of Salavat Yulaev by Tamara Pavlovna Nechaeva and coins from the 15th and 18th centuries.

The museum actively collaborates with the city's residents, who voluntarily donate items of cultural and historical value. The museum features sections dedicated to the history of "Yurmaty Land," the everyday life of local and incoming populations, as well as the working office of the director of the Berezovsky Combine, I. A. from the 1950s.

The museum regularly hosts thematic exhibitions and courses for museum staff. Museum employees annually gather materials from nearby villages. In 2011-2012, the museum participated in the "Night of Museums" event.

The museum building has a rectangular shape with a four-pitched roof, a triangular portico with a semicircular window on the facade, Ionic order columns, a recessed entrance, and decorative niches. The interior layout is simple, with a suite of halls, and the foyer is decorated with columns, mirrors, and stucco.