The Archive Commission, established on September 9, 1901, in honor of the centenary of the restoration of the Penza province, played a significant role in studying the region. It published three volumes of the "Proceedings of the Penza Scientific Archive Commission" and founded a historical archive, a historical and archaeological museum, and a library. The chairman of the commission was V. K. Khokhryakov, a well-known figure in the field of public education. The building transferred to the commission was consecrated on December 10, 1902. On December 13, 1911, a jubilee meeting dedicated to the commission's tenth anniversary was held in this building, chaired by the Penza governor A. P. von Lilienfeld-Toal. At the meeting, due to the illness and advanced age of V. K. Khokhryakov, it was decided to appoint him as the lifelong chairman of the commission for his special merits. The contribution of V. P. Popov, the permanent manager of the commission's affairs and secretary of the Penza provincial statistical committee, was also noted at the meeting, where the decision to create the commission was made on January 22, 1899. On May 13, 1917, the Penza Committee of the RSDRP(b) was formed in this building, commemorated by a memorial plaque installed in 1957.