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According to the oldest discovered taxation documents, there were seven estates on the Jyväskylä region in 1539. The estate of Mattila alone possessed the areas stretching from the village of Keljo to the villages of Vesanka and Palokka. The oldest estate in Jyväskylä continuously held by the same family is the estate of Lahti, which emerged when the estate of Mattila was split between two brothers in 1600. The history of the estate of Lahti and the family of Lahti have had a significant impact on the development of Jyväskylä region.

On 22 March 1837 was founded the City of Jyväskylä, when Emperor of Russia and Grand Duke of Finland, Nicholas I of Russia, signed the charter of the city and the infrastructure was essentially built from scratch. At the times Finnish military battalion participated under his rule in military operations against the Polish November Uprising and later in Hungary, Turkey and Bessarabia (today Moldova). While Nicholas I of Russia abolished many autonomous areas, it has been argued that the loyalty of the Finnish military influenced his approach towards Finnish autonomy. The original town was built between Lake Jyväskylä (which is connected to Lake Päijänne) and the Jyväskylä ridge.

The creation of schools in the 1850-60 proved to be the most important step in regard to the future development of Jyväskylä. The first three Finnish-speaking schools in the world were founded in Jyväskylä, the Lycée in 1858, the Teachers’ College in 1863, and the Girls’ School in 1864.

In the early 20th century, Jyväskylä expanded several times. Most of modern day Jyväskylä was built after the Continuation War, when refugees from Karelia and other parts of Finland moved to the city. During the 21st century Jyväskylä has grown fast, with over 1000 new inhabitants every year. In 1993 Säynätsalo was consolidated with Jyväskylä and in January 2009 the same happened to Jyväskylän maalaiskunta and Korpilahti.