Balashov Local History Museum

Thirty-four employees and twelve researchers work on the preservation and development of the museum collection. The collection of the museum includes more than forty-seven thousand seven hundred items, thirty-four thousand hundred items of the collection are presented in the exposition and are included in the main funds of the museum. The museum opened on April 1, 1932. In 1937-1987, it was located in a adapted building in the Kuibyshev Park. During the Great Patriotic War, the museum was temporarily closed. From 1954 to 1957 the museum had the status of a regional museum. At this time, its funds were replenished with unique exhibits, the staff increased, the expositions became more spectacular. In the 1960-1970s, along with collecting and research work, educational work was widely conducted, exhibitions were made. In 1971, the museum was awarded the Diploma of the Soviet Committee of War Veterans. In 1978, the museum received permission from the Institute of Archaeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences for exploration and archaeological excavations. In the early 1980s, the museum building fell into disrepair. It was decided to build another. Employees at this time gave lectures at enterprises, agit platforms and in pioneer camps. The new exhibition opened on November 19, 1990. In 1991, to commemorate this date, a local history conference was held, which began to be held annually. In 1993, for the first time, a local history issue of the newspaper “The City” was prepared. Employees participated in the publication of a book about Balashov "Bright City on a Clear River". In 2002, the museum was awarded a diploma of the Ministry of Culture of the Saratov region. Since 2003, collections of materials of local history conferences have been published. In May 2005, the museum was listed on the City Board of Honor, in 2006 it was awarded the Gratitude of the Ministry of Culture of the Saratov region. Currently, the museum is actively engaged in the promotion of local lore, exposition work, project activities, attracts new visitors. The Balashov Museum of Local History works in the form of a non-profit institution in the field of natural and fundamental sciences, that is, it does not have as the main goal of its activity the extraction of profit and does not distribute the profit between the participants. The Balashov Museum of Local Lore is an organization of municipal subordination. The main activities of the museum: cultural and research.