The Ulyanovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore named after Ivan Goncharov was founded in 1895 as the museum of the Simbirsk Scientific Archival Commission. At the beginning of the 20th century, two more museums were established in Simbirsk: the museum of natural history and the church archives. In March 1918, a decision was made to unite them into a single People’s Museum, which in 1932 officially became known as the Museum of Local Lore.
Since 1918, the museum has been located in the house dedicated to Ivan Goncharov, built especially for the museum of the archive commission in 1912–1916 according to the design of the local architect Auguste Chaudet and with money donated by people from all over the country.
The collection was based on private donations, the largest being the archaeological collection of Vladimir Nikolayevich Polivanov and the numismatic collection of Alexander Vasilyevich Tolstoy. Currently, the main regional museum contains 147,000 items.
