The town was the administrative center of the Samar Palanka [uk] (province) of the Zaporozhian Cossacks.

The site was badly chosen – spring waters transformed the city into a bog.

[8] The city is famous for the Holy Trinity Cathedral, built in 1778 by Yakym Pohrybniak from wood without any nails.

[11][12] Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the city council voted in January 2024 to rename Novomoskovsk to Nova Samar (Нова Самарь).

In terms of ethnicity, Ukrainians constitute a large majority, accounting for over 80% of the population.