Following the discovery of large reserves of limestone and clay in the region, in 1947 construction work began on one of the largest cement production complexes in the Baltic States.

Most probably the name is derived from a rivulet that flows north of the town: the Akmenupis (approximate meaning – "river with a lot of stones").

A plague of 1710–1711 left the city without inhabitants, although it recovered fast, and in 1754 received a privilege to hold a market and four fairs per year.

After the Partitions of Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth the neighborhoods were donated to the wife of Russian General Fitinhof.

The Rollkommando Hamann with the help of local collaborators, shot and killed three Jews, and on August 4, 1941, all the remaining prisoners were transferred to three silos on the bank of the river Venta, near Mažeikiai.