First the town took the name of "Castel Sant’Angelo" (Saint Angel Castle), later obtaining the current referring to the importance of the bridge on the river, that was the main way joining the Republic of Florence to the territories of the Mugello, Casentino and the city of Arezzo.

Under the Lorenese domination Pontassieve was elevated to the rank of Vicarship’s Town Hall comprising part of the territories belonging to the Arno and Sieve valleys.

In 1859 the construction of a Florence-Rome railway (later followed by the Florence-Borgo San Lorenzo line) gave an additional impulse to the town's economy, turning it into an industrial hub.

During World War II Pontassieve, for its importance as a rail junction, suffered substantial damage: the railways and the town itself were repeatedly bombed by Allied planes, which destroyed it almost entirely.

Among the several celebrations periodically taking place in Pontassieve we remind here the traditional "Toscanello d'oro" held yearly in May.