Heinrich Hübschmann believed Mezre to be the settlement of Mazara (Μαζάρα) mentioned by Ptolemy, while Nicholas Adontz derived the name from an Arabic word meaning arable land or hamlet (borrowed into Turkish as mezra 'hamlet').

[4][5] The toponym Mezre originated as a shortening of Ağavat Mezrası ('hamlet of the aghas/landlords') or Mezra-ı Çötelizade ('Çötelizade [a family name] hamlet').

This may be explained by the fact that some notables from Harput had been exiled from the city and settled in nearby villages in the late 18th century.

[10] The town of Mezre (future Elazığ) was founded on the fertile plain below the hill on which the much older fortress and settlement of Harput were constructed.

Harput and its surrounding region were part of the kingdom of Urartu at its maximum extent, and the Urartians may have been the first to build a fortress here.

Harput and its vicinity fell under Turkish control in the year 1085 as a result of the Battle of Manzikert, which took place on August 26, 1071.

The region around the fortress changed hands frequently in the subsequent centuries, coming under the control of the Çubukoğulları, Artuqids, Sultanate of Rum, Ilkhanate, Beylik of Dulkadir, Aq Qoyunlu, Safavids and Ottomans.

[15] In 1834–36, the Çötelizades hosted the governor and military commander Reşid Mehmed Pasha, who turned the hamlet into a garrison for his campaigns in the eastern regions of the empire.

[4] According to census data from the 1880s, the population of Mezre consisted of 2,126 non-Muslim and 548 Muslim inhabitants, making it the only vilayet centre with an Armenian majority besides Van.

[26] The Inspectorate General included the provinces of Elazığ, Erzincan, Bingöl, and Tunceli and was governed by a Governor Commander under military authority.

[26] Elazığ rapidly developed into a modern city in the Republican era, while Harput was largely an abandoned ruin in the 1930s and 1940s.

[28] Efforts began in the 1950s to renovate the old town of Harput: some historic monuments were restored, a new municipality building was built and a museum was opened.

Also, in Harberd was seat of a Syrian Orthodox bishop as early as the eleventh century, whose diocese was initially called Ḥiṣn Ziyād and later Harput.

[citation needed] An Armenian Evangelical Church, built in the 19th century, survives as a ruined shell of its former self in the middle of a car park.

However, over 80% of families in zones affected by the Keban dam were landless peasants and thus ineligible to receive compensation, or peasants with little land who would receive very little money (Koyunlu 1982: 250) The dam, industry, and mining accounts for the high level of urbanization (42.7% in 1970) surpassing the average levels for Eastern Anatolia.

The exception is the ancient citadel and town of Harput, a dependency of the greater municipality of Elazığ today situated three miles (4.8 km) to the north of the city centre.

Elazığ's adjacent province borders are with Tunceli (North), Erzincan (North-West), Bingöl (East), Diyarbakır (South), and Malatya (West).

The city of Elazığ is divided into 41 quarters: Hilalkent, Çaydaçıra, Ataşehir, Cumhuriyet, Çatalçeşme, Doğukent, Fevziçakmak, Gümüşkavak, Karşıyaka, Kırklar, Kızılay, Kültür, Nailbey, Rızaiye, Salibaba, Sanayi, Sürsürü, Ulukent, Yeni, Zafran, Alayaprak, Esentepe, Göllübağ, Harput Merkez, Sugözü, Izzetpaşa, Akpınar, Çarşı, Icadiye, Aksaray, Mustafapaşa, Olgunlar, Rüstempaşa, Sarayatik, Üniversite, Yıldızbağları, Abdullahpaşa, Hicret, Şahinkaya, Yemişlik and Güneykent.

Apart from famous meat platters most of which include meatballs, naturally dried fruits and vegetables, and using them in main dishes are unique to Elazığ cuisine.

Ferryboat services are also present over the reservoir lakes to supplement highway connections to towns such as Ağın, and Pertek and Çemişgezek of Tunceli.