Mezen Historical and Local Lore Museum

Opened on January 18, 1980, in the year of the bicentenary of the founding of the city. The museum was created by students of the Mezen High School under the guidance of the history teacher Melnikov Alexander Nikolaevich. The museum, located in the building of the former city Duma, in the first months of its work had the status of a people’s, acting on a voluntary basis. On February 14, 1980, the Executive Committee of the Arkhangelsk Regional Council of People's Deputies decided to establish the Mezen Historical and Revolutionary Museum as a branch of the regional local history museum. The branch was created on the basis of the funds of a previously existing public museum. Officially, the Mezen branch of the regional museum of local lore began its activity on April 1, 1980.

Now the branch is called the Mezensky Local History Museum. The main direction of its activity is the collection, storage, exhibition and promotion of monuments on the history and culture of the Mezensky district. The collection of authentic objects, documents and photographic materials is at least 9 thousand items of storage.

The museum is also partially engaged in the study of the history and culture of the population living on the territory of the former Mezensky district within the borders of 1891 (modern Mezensky and Leshukonsky districts, Nenets Autonomous District, the northern part of the Komi Republic, the islands of the western sector of the Arctic Ocean).

In the XVII century, the Mezen Pomors took an active part in the development of Siberia by Russian settlers - the movement "to meet the sun." They were among those who inhabited the “gold-boiling” Mangazeya, who mastered the land in the basins of Kolyma, Lena and Yenisei, who reached the Pacific coast and opened the strait between Asia and America. Okladnikova Sloboda (now Mezen) at that time was one of the largest centers of Russian trade with Siberia. Mezen Pomors made a great contribution to the development of the Arctic. 19 points on the map are named by names associated with Mezen. Mezen is the birthplace of the Mezen horse breed, perfectly adapted to the conditions of the extreme North. Mezensky is the northernmost agricultural region in the country.