The area was populated by speakers of Uralic languages and then colonized by the Novgorod Republic. It belonged at the trading routes connecting central and northern Russia: first, from Moscow to the White Sea along the Onega River, and then, after 1765, along the newly built road between Saint-Petersburg and Arkhangelsk, which still exists and passes Kargopol and Plesetsk. However, the Plesetsk area until the 1890s was underpopulated since it was located at some distance from the main rivers of the region. From 1796, it belonged to Arkhangelsky Uyezd of Arkhangelsk Governorate. In 1894–1897, Plesetskaya railway station was built during the construction of the railroad between Vologda and Arkhangelsk. Eventually, the volost center was moved from the selo of Navolok to Plesetskaya.
