The history of the Zheleznodorozhny Local Lore Museum began with the enthusiasm and many years of work of Alexander Ivanovich Shusherov, a local historian and the first director of the museum. For over ten years he worked in the archives, studying documents about the history of the village of Obiralovka and the construction of the Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod railway, which ultimately led to the opening of an exhibition in 1957 and later the museum itself.
The sculptor Vasily Trofimovich Bogolyubov and the artists Ivan Nikolayevich and Pyotr Nikolayevich Prikhodko and Viktor Ivanovich Shenkel took part in designing two small halls. The museum opened its doors on August 3, 1970, and its first visitors were able to take a look at materials about the history of the Obiralovka settlement and its transformation into the city of Zheleznodorozhny.
In 1981, the museum moved into
a new building on Novaya Street and was equipped with the help of the city
enterprises, which marked the museum’s resurgence. Four dioramas created by
artists Ivan Nikolayevich and Pyotr Nikolayevich Prikhodko appeared in the
halls of the museum, including “Building the Railway” and “Moscow Air Defense”,
showing the area of Zheleznodorozhnaya station.