Most important historical building is St. John's church, with the famous Shrine and Painting of Our Lady of Consolation, founded around 1256.

The name of the town for the first time appears in 1105, in a document issued by Papal legate Gilles, who confirmed that Benedictine monks from Tyniec owned numerous villages and settlements along the Wisłoka river, including Pilzno.

At that time, Pilzno was conveniently located at the intersection of two busy merchant routes: west–east (from Kraków to Red Ruthenia), and north–south (from Sandomierz to the Kingdom of Hungary).

Several artisans of different skills were active here, and town council profited from tolls collected for crossing the bridge over the Wisłoka.

On March 18, 1657, troops of Transilvanian Prince George II Rakoczi, together with their Cossack allies, attacked Pilzno, plundering the town and burning it to the ground.

In the mid-19th century, when the Galician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis was built, it was designed to be some 15–20 km (9–12 mi) north of the town, and as a result, Pilzno failed to develop.

The Russians were driven away on May 6, 1915, and on November 1, 1918, Pilzno became independent, when local civil servants destroyed Austrian symbols.

Furthermore, when in 1936 Dębica became one of main centers of the Central Industrial Region, Pilzno’s importance was further weakened, and it remained so until now.

A number of Polish Chicagoans hail from Pilzno, and in 2004 their organization the 'Pilzno' Society of Chicago Klub Pilźnian festively celebrated its 80th anniversary[2][3]