The ethnographic exposition is preceded by short introduction for the historical past of Elhovo, settlement with rich history, located in the Valley of the Tundzha River.

The town is a successor of a Thracian settlement in the tribal territory of the Odrysaeans, known of the sources under the name of Orudizа.  After announcing the united Odrysian kingdom in year 45 A.D. at the time of the Roman Emperor Claudius, the Elhovo area was within the territory of the Roma province Thrace. The Roman authority strengthens the settlement and renames it Orudiza ad burgum. It functioned as a road station between the towns Kabile and Adrianople. During the early Middle Ages the town was known under the name Yoanitsa. In VII century on the Balkan peninsula permanently settled the Slavs. In their pronunciation the name of the town sounds as Yanitsa. During the ottoman rule it bore the names Yanidzhali, Enidzhe Kazalagach and Kazal-agach. The nowadays name Elhovo the town has been bearing since 26.03.1925 г, when the Decree of Tsar Boris III entered in force, which respected the insistent request of its residents to change the name Kazal-agach.

The accent in this part of the exhibition is on the moments of the historic past of the Elhovo area of the end of ХІХ and the beginning of XX century, connected with the fights for national liberation during the Renaissance and the first years of structuring the bodies of management of the liberated Bulgarian country in this border area.