Altai state regional Museum is the oldest Museum in Siberia. It is located in the historic centre of Barnaul, in a building that is a historical and cultural monument of architecture of the mid-nineteenth century. The Museum building was erected in 1851 and was originally used as the Main chemical laboratory of the Altai territory.

Local history Museum was founded in 1823 and is considered the successor of Barnaul mining Museum, founded in the same year to the 100th anniversary of the mining business in Altai. The initiator of the founding of the Altai state Museum of local lore was made by P. K. Frolov and Friedrich August von Gebler. Visitors to the Museum the exhibits were collected from the beginning of the XVIII century. These were ethnographic materials of the North American and Siberian models of mining machines, as well as the herbarium and rich at that time, mountain time library.

The first half of the XIX century, the Museum became known as a research institution, in this connection, it is closed to public access. By the end of the nineteenth century the scientific value of Museum of local lore weakened. In 1913, Nicholas II issued a decree on the transfer of the Museum's new building on the street Polzunova. The reconstruction of the object dealt with the architect N. I. Feodosievich.

At the end of 1918 Museum collection included the collection of insects, soils, minerals, stuffed birds and animals, the herbarium of the local flora and a huge number of photos. In 1920 the Museum was opened to the public.

Today the Museum collection includes more than 150 thousand exhibits, including here is the world's only model of the steam engine, invented in 1763 I. Polzunova. This rarity is exhibited from 1825

Of special interest to visitors are the archaeological finds that tell the history of the ancient Altai, various household items, as well as numismatic, historical, technical and mineralogical collection.