It lies in historic Lesser Poland, approximately 23 km (14 mi) south-east of the regional capital Kielce.

It is not known when it was granted a town charter – it happened between 1359 and 1397, during the reign of either Casimir III the Great or Władysław II Jagiełło.

In 1798–1800, the former Voivode of Sandomierz Maciej Sołtyk funded a new, stone church of St. Margaret, which replaced the wooden complex.

After the Polish victory in the Austro-Polish War of 1809, the town was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw, and after its dissolution in 1815 it part of Russian-controlled Congress Poland.

Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, Pierzchnica was occupied by Germany until 1945.