The first mention of Gorokhovets is found in the Laurentian Chronicle in connection with the beginning of a difficult period in the life of ancient Rus and the devastation of the city by the Mongols. Frequent attacks destroyed it, but the city was restored and continued to live.

At the end of the 14th century, under Prince Vasily I, with the entry of Gorokhovets into the Moscow Principality, its military-strategic importance as a defensive point on the eastern Russian border increased. During the formation of provinces under the reforms of Peter I in 1708–1710, Gorokhovets and certain surrounding territories were moved to the Kazan province. Subsequently (according to the Decree dated 29 May 1719), Gorokhovets was included in the Moscow province.

With the annexation of the Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates to the Moscow State in the 16th century, Gorokhovets lost its significance as a border town and began to develop as a trade and craft centre.
The end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century was the time of prosperity and wealth for Gorokhovets. Gorokhovets tradespeople, using the advantageous position of the city on the road from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod with its noisy Makaryev fair, conducted large-scale trade along the Klyazma, Oka, and Volga to Astrakhan. The city grew rapidly. The wealthy merchants, wishing to perpetuate their name and show the power of their prosperity, made huge contributions to the construction of churches, founded monasteries, and built hills for themselves.

In the 17th century, three monasteries were built in the city at the expense of local merchants: Znamensky Krasnogrivsky, Sretensky for women and Trinity-Nikolsky for men. As well as the parish Church of the Resurrection and the festive Cathedral of the Annunciation (1700). Stone residential buildings are being built in the city at the same time as stone churches. 8 civil stone buildings built in the 17th and 18th centuries have survived to this day.

In the 19th century, Gorokhovets was a chief town of a district. The turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was marked by massive construction in Gorokhovets. Large public buildings made of brick, such as the city council, shopping arcades, men's and women's gymnasiums, and a parochial school, as well as several merchant houses were erected here. The place under Puzhalovaya Hill became too little for the city, and construction started on the hill.