The museum's history began when in December 1870 a group of notables in Ekaterinburg founded the Ural Society of Natural Science Lovers (UOLE), an organization dedicated to improving education in the area.

Though the organization was primarily founded to study the natural history of the Ural Mountains, many of its members had other interests, including meteorology and biology.

In 1887 the UOLE hosted a major exhibition in Ekaterinburg, an event which resulted in the organization gathering many donations and greatly expanding its existing collection.

The city council of Ekaterinburg decided to allocate funds for the establishment of a new museum, but the project faced a number of delays and was eventually cancelled.

The museum's collection contains many archeological finds from the Ural region, including ancient bones, tools, and the famous Shigir Idol.