[3] The history of Blachownia dates back to 1356, when King Kazimierz Wielki gave permission to establish two villages in the area under the jurisdiction of a Starosta from nearby Olsztyn.

This resulted in an influx of settlers, and this area of western lesser Poland, located near the border with Czech-ruled Silesia, emerged as a center of industry, with several forges and bloomeries.

In the 16th century, when the settlement of Łojki (future Blachownia) belonged to Kraków Voivodeship, it had as many as 36 forges, powered by water wheels.

Furthermore, iron ore was excavated here, and in one of the still-existing documents from 1531, King Zygmunt August allowed a man named Błażej Łojek to run a forge.

In 1610, Mikołaj Wolski, the starosta of Krzepice built two early blast furnaces, also purchasing a forge with two hammers, powered by water.

Due to efforts of Stanisław Staszic, artisans from Gliwice and technology from Berlin were brought to Blachownia, to recreate metal industry.

To increase energy input, a steam machine was brought from England, making Blachownia one of the most modern mills in Congress Poland.

The mill was renamed into Eisenwerke Handler, and Polish forced workers (OST-Arbeiter) were treated like slaves, working for 11 hours a day, with minimum salaries.