In medieval times, the impenetrable marshes of the lower Noteć River formed the border between the Kingdom of Poland and the lands of the Pomeranian tribes on the Baltic coast.

Disputed for centuries, the fortresses of Santok and Drezdenko finally were acquired by Margrave Conrad of Brandenburg on the occasion of his wedding with Constance of Poznań, daughter of the Piast duke Przemysł I of Greater Poland, in 1260.

After several unsuccessful attempts by the Polish Piasts to regain control, the area along the lower Noteć was finally incorporated into the Brandeburg Neumark region.

First plans for a large-scale drainage and land amelioration were developed under King Frederick William I of Prussia in 1738/39, though not carried out until after the Seven Years' War in 1763.

The territory, created by the Prussian administration, was again ceded to newly established Duchy of Warsaw in 1807, but fell back to Prussia by resolution of the Vienna Congress in 1815.