The town was first mentioned in written sources in 1744,[3] but began growing a century later when a large postal station was established on the Kaunas–Suwałki road, part of a longer Berlin – St. Petersburg route, in 1838–1839.

[4] The office was closed after the postal route was superseded by the Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway, built in 1859–1861.

In 1935, during an economic crisis, the town was part of fierce farmers' protests against the government of Antanas Smetona.

The seminary trained teachers for elementary schools in the Suwałki Governorate and became and important center of the Lithuanian National Revival.

The school was named after Tomas Žilinkas, who taught at the teachers' seminary for 37 years and encouraged his students to read banned Lithuanian books.