People have lived on the site for a long time, which is evident not least from the Viking-age boat burial ground at Norsa.

After the current Köping church was ravaged by fire in 1437, it was given a size sufficient after the rebuilding to suffice for both the county and city parish.

[5] In 1641, Queen Kristina Prästgärdet was donated east of the river to plots, and gradually the "new city" grew here with its own square, Hökartorget or Lilla torget.

In the 19th century Köping established itself as an industrial city, with a large mechanical workshop and a prosperous harbor.

A fire in 1889 destroyed large parts of Köping, whereafter it was rebuilt using stone material under supervision of architect Theodor Dahl.

Volvo built a large industry there in the 1920s; the arguably most known bed manufacturer in Sweden, Hästens, in 1924; and a number of gold groceries between 1940 — 1960.