It remained a village until the end of the 19th century when it began to develop as a spa, due to its location and climate.

During the January Uprising, several skirmishes between Russian units and Polish rebels took place in the area of Świdnik.

During World War I, heavy fighting between Russian and German and Austro-Hungarian units took place in the area of Świdnik (August 1914, July 1915).

Prior to World War II an airfield was built, which probably influenced the postwar decision of the government of the People's Republic of Poland to locate the PZL Świdnik plant here in the early 1950s.

In 1937, the government of Poland purchased 136 hectares of land from the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and, in the autumn of that same year, construction of the complex of School of Civilian Pilots of the Airborne and Antigas Defence League was initiated.

During World War II, the Germans used the airfield and its facilities for their military purposes; it was one of main centers of the Luftwaffe in initial stages of Operation Barbarossa.

During the war, numerous Polish resistance units operated in the area of Świdnik, including the Home Army.

In October 1941, Germans opened the Majdanek concentration camp, located in the village Majdan Tatarski, between Świdnik and Lublin.

In 1949 the first trees were felled in the location of the future Transportation Equipment Factory (Wytwórnia Sprzętu Komunikacyjnego, WSK).

Following the example of Nowa Huta, Communist authorities did not allow the construction of a Roman Catholic church for many years, despite the pledges of residents.

The Communist government eventually managed to quell these mass protests by granting the workers many of their demands.

On December 13, 1981, the workers at PZL Świdnik began a strike action, in protest of the Communist government.

The plant was immediately surrounded by security services and Polish Army tanks and armoured vehicles.

The S17 and the S12 expressways, still under construction in some areas, concurrently bypass Świdnik before diverging at Piaski; Lublin Airport, located on the town's outskirts, serves the whole voivodeship.