Fur traders found the creek on their westward treks in the 1800s, and called it "rivière au Courant" (lit: "river of the current").

Henri Julien, an artist travelling with the North-West Mounted Police expedition in 1874, referred to it as "Du Courant", and Commissioner George French used "Strong Current Creek" in his diary.

Métis residents also ran a successful Red River ox cart "freighting" business along the Swift Current-Battleford Trail to Battleford until the late 1880s.

During the Riel Rebellion of 1885, Swift Current became a major military base and troop mustering area due to its proximity to Battleford but this was only for a short time.

During World War II, the United Kingdom was considered an unsuitable site for training pilots.

The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan identified the Canadian Prairies, with their clear weather and great distance from enemy territory, as an ideal alternative.

39 Service Training Flying School was constructed east of Swift Current, hosting over one thousand servicemen at all times until its closure in March 1944.

There have been recent (2005–2006) plans to expand and revitalize the airport alongside the rural municipalities surrounding Swift Current.

Swift Current is home to Saskatchewan's oldest operating theatre: the Lyric Theatre, built in 1912 at a cost of $50,000 is the "crown jewel" of Swift Current's historical downtown buildings, with instantly recognizable advertisements painted on the north and south sides of the building dating back to the early 1920s.

The building has served many functions over the years: at first it housed glamorous vaudeville performances by traveling companies, was later converted into a movie theatre and, in the mid-1980s, a bar and nightclub.

A volunteer non-profit group (Southwest Cultural Development Group) purchased the facility in 2005 and is raising money for its preservation while staging cultural events, such as a mock Chautauqua annually in July, since 2008, open mic nights throughout the year, and administering rentals of the building.

Its location in southwest Saskatchewan gives it slightly milder winters than the provincial capital, Regina, even though it is higher in elevation.

The Saskatchewan Abilities Council provides both bus and paratransit (called Access Transit) to Swift Current and Yorkton.

[39] Swift Transit also runs three high school routes, as well as accommodating students from the downtown area on the Red line.

[41][42] Swift Current purchased three new Arboc buses which arrived in 2021, enhancing both regular and Access Transit services.

The team has developed a number of NHL players such as Dave "Tiger" Williams, Joe Sakic, and Bryan Trottier.

[48] Following the 2021 federal election the riding is represented by Jeremy Patzer, MP and from 2018 provincially by Everett Hindley, MLA.

The city was the home constituency of the first Saskatchewan Party premier, Brad Wall, who won more than 80% of the popular vote on two occasions.

[53] The city's current mayor is Al Bridal, who defeated incumbent Denis Perrault in the 2020 Saskatchewan municipal elections.

[54][55] Swift Current was previously served by CJFB-TV channel 5, a private CBC Television outlet; this station would close down in 2002, with its transmitter becoming CBKT-4, a repeater of CBKT Regina.