The beginning of the 20th century was marked by a significant expansion of the borders of the village, as well as an increase in the number of industrial enterprises. In May 1911, the Highest Ordinance was signed to confer on Balakovo the status of a city with the rights of self-government. Ivan Mamin, the industrialist, became the first city head. On the eve of the 1917 revolution, there were 6 churches, 7 schools, the grain market, the ironworks of Fyodor Blinov and the mechanical plant of oil engines of the Mamin brothers, ship repair and furniture workshops, sawmills, mills, a commercial college opened in 1910, with considerable financial assistance of the merchant - a patron of Ivan Kobzar, the Zemsky hospital and the city factory ambulance (polyclinic), a library, and a power plant, which was organized by the "Light" partnership.