The name of Vaslui appears first in a Polish document from 1375, referring to Koriat's son Yuri Koriatovich.

The name Vaslui was also mentioned in 1435, in connection with the accession of Prince Iliaș to the Moldavian throne.

The peak of Vaslui's importance was in the 15th century, when it was a second-rank capital of Moldavia, during the reign of Stephen the Great (r. 1457–1504) and its population approached that of the neighbouring Iași.

During World War II, the Stephen the Great Monument was relocated from Chișinău to Vaslui.

In the 1960s and '70s nomadic Roma belonging to the Kalderash caste were forcibly settled by the Communists in the northern part of the town, scattered among ethnic Romanians.

[4] Vaslui has several neighborhoods: 13 Decembrie, Ana Ipătescu, Castanilor, Copou, Delea, Alecu Donici, Gheorghe Racoviță, Green Park, Gura Bustei and Traian.

The city has ten schools, classes I – VIII, named after Ioan Cuza, Dimitrie Cantemir, Constantin Parfene, Elena Cuza, Ștefan cel Mare, Mihai Eminescu, Constantin Motaș, Alexandra Nechita, Vasile Alecsandri, Mihail Sadoveanu.

The main industries are textiles (clothing and knitted wear) and food (baked goods, vegetable oil, meat, dairy).