Aleutian Museum of Local History

The Aleutian Museum was created in the mid-1960s as a folk museum: the first collections of historical and ethnographic material were carried out by old-timers in the villages of Nikolskoye (Bering Island) and Preobrazhenskoye (Medny Island). On June 1, 1965, the Aleutsky District Executive Committee provided the young museum with the first room - a small wooden building, due to extreme dilapidation, which has not survived to our days. The building to which the museum was transferred in the early 1970s, built according to the American project at the end of the XIX century with the direct participation of the Governor of the Commander Islands N. A. Grebnitsky, originally served as the County Administration. The first two departments - "nature" and "pre-revolutionary past" - met their visitors on June 11, 1965. The official opening of the museum took place on June 13, 1965.

The dilapidated house did not meet museum requirements and was not suitable for showing local attractions. The depository was tiny and unsuitable, and the exhibition hall did not contain a small part of the collected artifacts. But the local authorities paid special attention to the preservation of cultural heritage, and the museum met its decade in the building of the former administration of the Aleutsky district. The official opening took place on November 7, 1976.

This house, in which the museum is located to this day, in itself is of great historical value. The elegant structure looks two-story due to the middle part of the attic, can rightfully be considered an architectural symbol of the village of Nikolskoe. It is believed that direct participation in the construction work was taken by the Governor of the Islands Nikolai Alexandrovich Grebnitsky.

The exposition is designed for a wide range of visitors - both Russian and foreign. All comments are presented in both Russian and English.

On the ground floor there are four halls with the following compositions: "The Second Kamchatka Expedition". Winter on the island. Image of Vitus Bering"; "Visit and settlement of islands in the XVII-XIX centuries. The Russian-American campaign. American fur lease; Material and spiritual culture of the Aleuts. Ancient and modern traditions"; "The nature of islands: geology, flora, fauna. The story of the prosperity and extinction of the sea cow and the steller cormorant. The exposition of the second floor is dedicated to the XX century: “Settlements and Villages”, “Island Animal Husbandry and Bioresources Protection System”, “Study of the Islands”. Temporary exhibitions are also located here. Excursions are conducted in Russian and English.

The collections of the museum have 13,831 items of storage, of which 10,735 items are the main fund. The museum collection consists of materials of archaeological excavations in Commander Bay and places of former settlements; ethnographic and decorative and applied collections; small numismatic collection; biological and geological collections; photo and videotechs; libraries and archival materials.