Apart from its importance as a watercourse to the inhabitants and farmlands of the eastern and northern parts of the island, it is a renowned region in paleoanthropology circles.

Following the acquisition of much of Java by the Dutch colonial government, various cash crops were introduced to be planted across the river basin, such as coffee, sugar, and cotton.

By the last years of the 19th century, river sedimentation in its original delta in Madura Strait started to disrupt vessel traffic in the port of Surabaya.

The Dutch colonial government decided to divert the river flow away from the shipping lane into the Java Sea.

[9] In 1891, Dutch paleoanthropologist Eugène Dubois discovered remains (a part of a skull and human-like femur bone and tooth) he described as "a species in between humans and apes".

From the town of Cepu in Blora, the river turns eastward and passes through Bojonegoro Regency's capital city.

[12] The original delta flowed into the Madura Strait,[12] but in 1890 a 12-km canal was made by the Dutch East Indies authority to redirect the Solo River into the Java Sea.

[18] The site size was estimated to be 88.25 hectares and was planned to hold a total volume of 10 million cubic meters.

[20] "Bengawan Solo", a song composed by Gesang Martohartono in 1940, poetically describes the river and has become famous across Asia.