Berdyansk Museum of Local Lore was founded in 1929 and housed in one of the most beautiful buildings of the city — the former city government. Subsequently, another building, which once housed the Berdyansk-Nogai Bank, was provided for the museum.
During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, after the Nazi occupation, the museum resumed its work in 1944 in the building of the former parish school of the Catholic Church (A.S. Pushkin Park, since 1973 — P.P. Schmidt Park).
Since 1958 and up to now the museum has been located on the first floor of a three-story apartment building at 14 Pobedy Ave.
The museum is named after a native of Berdyansk V.G.Kravchenk — ethnographer, local historian, folklorist and dialectologist.
Berdyansk Museum of Local Lore is a unique treasury of the history of the Borodino region. It is a modern museum complex, which includes three branches: Memorial House-Museum of P.P.Schmidt (1980), Museum «Podvig» (1985) and Museum of History of Berdyansk (2005).
Memorial House-Museum of P.P. Schmidt — is a branch of the Museum of Local Lore (Shmidt Street, 8) opened in 1980. In this house from 1876 to 1886 lived the family of the chief of the city and port P.P.Schmidt, here passed the childhood years of his son — the future lieutenant P.P.Schmidt, who studied in Berdyansk classical men’s gymnasium. 
Two halls of the first floor of the museum are devoted to the Schmidt family and the life and activity of Lieutenant P.P.Schmidt. The second floor of the museum reproduces the cozy atmosphere of the XIX century — living room, father’s study, nursery and dining room.
On the first floor of the museum within the framework of the project «Museum in the Museum» there is an exposition of the former museum of the Oktyabrskaya Volna wine farm on a voluntary basis.
Museum «Podvig» — is also a branch of the Museum of Local Lore (10 Sverdlova St.) was opened on May 5, 1985 to the 40th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War, reveal the heroism and selflessness of our people in the war years. The museum traditionally organizes meetings of veterans of the city and district with schoolchildren and students. 
The expositions «Afghanistan hurts in my soul», «They are proud of the city», «Interior of the living room in the 1950s» and the exhibition of paintings embroidered with artistic smooth, local masters-embroiderers M.G.Bilousovai-Karakash and T.P.Gamolska are always relevant.
Berdyansk History Museum — another branch of the Museum of Local Lore (15 Dyumina St.) was opened on September 17, 2005. Five exposition halls cover three periods of the city’s development — pre-Soviet, Soviet and Ukrainian independence. The showcases of the small exhibition room tell about Berdyansk’s sister cities and demonstrate collections of samovars and irons of the late XIX — early XX centuries.
The conference hall of the museum immortalizes the memory of one of the founders of Berdyansk — the Most Serene Prince, 
Governor-General of Novorossiya and Viceroy of Bessarabia M. S. Vorontsov — contains a collection of the history of Berdyansk.S. Vorontsov — contains the exhibition «Gallery of portraits of the Vorontsov family» and gathers at the round table participants of scientific and practical conferences, museum festivals, representatives of national-cultural societies.
Embodying the project «Museum in the Museum», the halls house the exposition of the former museum on a voluntary basis of the plant «Azovkabel».
The initiator and organizer of the opening of museums was the authorities. The creation of branches was headed by the director of the museum L.F.Nozdrina, Honored Worker of Culture of Ukraine.
The museum funds contain about 80 thousand museum items, among them interesting museum collections, unique manuscript sources on the history of the city and the region, individual rarities.
Scientific developments of the museum are embodied in museum publications.
Berdyansk Museum of Local Lore is a worthy participant of All-Ukrainian contests, museum festivals, numerous scientific and practical conferences of various subjects.