Shumov merchants’s House

«From 1912 the construction was under the supervision of the architect F.E. Ponomarev. By 1914, one section of the building (which still exists) had been completed, but the second phase of construction never commenced. The building was constructed based on a design that won the Grand Prix at the Paris World’s Fair. It was designed in the eclectic style, incorporating elements of Baroque and late Classicism. Upon the completion of construction, of, the premises were leased to tenants. In 1915, 164 Austrian prisoners of war had been detained in the building’s basement.

In March 1918, a session of the Congress of Soviets of Workers convented here. During Ataman Semenov’s rule, the Palace served as the hospital’s administrative office, and occasional concerts were held here. In March 1920, there the office of Japanese Consul Ogata was established here; in September 1920, it housed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Far East Republic, and from 1923 onwards, the Transbaikal Provincial Council of Trade Unions.It was subsequently renamed the “Palace of Labor”. A state public library was established herein 1922,and a radio club operated on the premises in 1925.In the summer of 1937, the building was transferred to the Transbaikal Military District, later housing the People`s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKBD), the Committee for State Security (KGB), and currently the Trans-Baikal Federal Security Service (FSB) Administration».