In 1792, Catherine the Great gifted Šiauliai Economy [lt], state land with more than 13,000 serfs, to her favorite Platon Zubov.

He then purchased Ginkūnai (six peasant houses, 24 men and 18 women serfs, an inn, windmill, and permit to use the lake) for 5,600 Dutch daalders in 1805.

The family established the Ginkūnai Manor, which became the administrative center of the estates around it.

[2] Zubov's descendants continued to own Ginkūnai until 1940 when the property was nationalized after the Soviet occupation.

During the Soviet times, the settlement became a centre of the local gardening-oriented sovkhoz.