Reforming production in the country at the present stage requires studying the experience of the Russian Empire in the second half of the XIX – early XX centuries, when the industrial sector of the country's economy was formed in a fairly short period. A special role in this process was played by the state administration of industrial production, whose well-structured hierarchy allowed, on the one hand, the development of private property, and, on the other, the successful management of state-owned enterprises. The legislative acts adopted during this period created the basis for the successful implementation of control and supervisory functions, minimized the occurrence of adverse consequences at industrial facilities. It seems most important to study the experience of public administration with a fairly extensive and diverse range of public relations that are present in the field of industrial production at the stage of formation in the Russian Empire of the period under study. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of public administration that made it possible to transform from an agrarian country into an industrially developed country in a short time. To designate the powers of government bodies in the field of industrial production, whose activities were aimed at the development and implementation of control and supervisory measures at industrial facilities of the Russian empire. Research methods: analysis, synthesis, induction and deduction, historical method, historical and legal analysis. The vertical system of industrial production management bodies in the Russian empire in the second half of the XIX – early XX centuries with an extensive structure has shown its effectiveness. The diversity of state bodies in this area was justified, and their transformation in accordance with the set goals and objectively existing realities made it possible to control developing private production, as well as manage state-owned enterprises. This structure of government agencies has made it possible to collect the necessary information from all over the country in the most effective way in order to promptly change the current legislation in this area. Detailed regulation of a significant number of production processes made it possible to minimize adverse effects, and also created the basis for the implementation of control and supervisory measures by government agencies.