Zbigniew Sienienski, the castellan of Lublin, founded a new town, which he called Dębno, after family's coat of arms.

Twelve years later, the village was in the hands of the Korecki family, and in 1627, it was purchased by Krzysztof Wichrowski, the miecznik of Halicz.

In the early 18th century, Skalat belonged to the Kalinowski family, and in 1766 King Stanisław August Poniatowski confirmed its town charter, which had been issued either in 1600, or 1634.

Following the Treaty of Schönbrunn, Austria ceded the area of Tarnopol, together with Skalat, to the Russians, who controlled it until the 1815 Congress of Vienna.

On April 23, 1919, Ukrainian activists murdered a popular Roman Catholic parish priest from Skalat, Rev.

In 1939, together with the suburbs of Mantiawa, Ksiezy Kat and Targowica, Skałat had a mixed Polish, Jewish and Ukrainian population of over 7,000.

During the initial phase of the Soviet Invasion of Poland, the Red Army units bypassed the town, heading towards Tarnopol.

During the Volhynian massacre, Skalat was a shelter for Polish population of the countryside, which was attacked by Ukrainian nationalists.

After The Holocaust and expulsion of its Polish residents, the population of Skalat was reduced to 2,000, and the town lost its status of the capital of a county (raion).