The article is devoted to the history of flax growing. In the historiographical aspect the experience of understanding the development of flax growing as a branch of agriculture of the Tyumen region is considered. The material was the texts of articles, essays, publications in periodicals, scientific literature, collections of documentary materials on flax growing for the period from the end of 19th to the beginning of 21st centuries. The paper presents an analysis of the historical conditions in the Tobolsk (Tyumen) province, region later. The chronological period covered is characterized as complicated both from the point of view of the events reflected in the literature and from the point of view of the historiographical state of the problem. The historiographical review identifies three main periods: pre-revolutionary, Soviet and modern. It is shown that each of them had its own individual features. Revolution, civil war, years of collectivization, repeated reorganization of agriculture, excessive ideologization of all aspects of society life determined the content, direction, volume of literature on this issue. The authors identified the most recognized and authoritative points of view, assessments of the development of flax growing in the Tyumen region, confirmed the importance of research in the history of flax growing as a branch of agriculture in the Tyumen region for the modern period.