The Stary Oskol Museum of Local Lore is one of the oldest cultural institutions of the Belgorod region. At the end of February 1923, a Proletarian club was opened in Stary Oskol, and, at it — a branch of the provincial local history society was organized. On April 11 a decision to establish a museum of local history in Stary Oskol was taken. The townspeople actively supported the idea and started replenishing the collections with their own items kept in their families.
Nikolay Mikhailovich Rozhdestvensky, a well-known teacher and local historian in the city, was appointed the first director. Stary Oskol residents actively supported the idea of creating a museum, they brought traditional local handicrafts, old books, household items, and finds from different historical eras.
The most difficult period in the history of the museum was the Great Patriotic War. Almost all collections were lost. Immediately after the liberation of the city it was decided to revive the museum. By April 20, 1945, 2400 exhibits had been collected and about 10 thousand people could visit the newly opened exhibitions.
Over the decades of the postwar history, the museum was enriched with thousands of new exhibits. The staff of researchers expanded. In 1995 the museum was moved to the building-monument of history and architecture — the house of the merchant Lihushin. The museum collections include more than 40 thousand exhibits and quite fully reflect the history and culture of the region, the human environment from ancient times to the present. The collections are located in seven permanent exhibition halls. The exhibitions are also held extensively. The museum has two structural subdivisions — the house-museum of V. Y. Eroshenko in the village Obukhovka and the museum of the village Znamenka.
Nikolay Mikhailovich Rozhdestvensky, a well-known teacher and local historian in the city, was appointed the first director. Stary Oskol residents actively supported the idea of creating a museum, they brought traditional local handicrafts, old books, household items, and finds from different historical eras.
The most difficult period in the history of the museum was the Great Patriotic War. Almost all collections were lost. Immediately after the liberation of the city it was decided to revive the museum. By April 20, 1945, 2400 exhibits had been collected and about 10 thousand people could visit the newly opened exhibitions.
Over the decades of the postwar history, the museum was enriched with thousands of new exhibits. The staff of researchers expanded. In 1995 the museum was moved to the building-monument of history and architecture — the house of the merchant Lihushin. The museum collections include more than 40 thousand exhibits and quite fully reflect the history and culture of the region, the human environment from ancient times to the present. The collections are located in seven permanent exhibition halls. The exhibitions are also held extensively. The museum has two structural subdivisions — the house-museum of V. Y. Eroshenko in the village Obukhovka and the museum of the village Znamenka.
