According to Ferdowsi's Shahnameh the town has existed since the Afrasiab period and was named for its builder, Sarakhs, son of Godarz, by Keykavus.

Although this is considered to be a somewhat arbitrary choice of date,[6] the section of the city called Sarahs that's now on the Turkmenistan side of the border, duly celebrated its 2500th anniversary in 1993.

[5] In the Seljuk Era a famous school of architects was located in Old Sarakhs, and the region retains the tombs of three major 11th-century figures, two on the Turkmenistan side of today's border (those of Abul Fazl, and the 1089 Yarty Gumbez, mausoleum of Sheikh Ahmed Al Khady) and the impressive Tomb of Baba Loghman on the Iranian side.

Sarakhs weather is cold in winter, warm and dry in summer thanks to the influence of the Karakum Desert.

[10] The weather in Sarakhs has been mild and dry in the past With the expansion of irrigated agriculture and the intake of “Dousti dam”.

The main historical site of Sarakhs is the partly restored Loghman Baba mausoleum in a field just north of the town.