Monument to Peter the Great
Lipetsk was first mentioned in the 13th century chronicles.[citation needed] The name means "Linden city" and is cognate with Leipzig and Liepāja.[15] In 1284, the city was destroyed by the Mongols.

The foundation of the modern city dates back to 1703,[10] when Peter the Great ordered construction of a cast iron factory in Lipetsk near the iron ore deposits for making artillery shells.[citation needed] On September 27, 1779, Lipetsk was granted town status.[10] It became one of the principal towns of Tambov Governorate.

In 1879, Lipetsk hosted a congress of members of Land and Liberty.

In the mid-1920s, the much-reduced German Army (Reichswehr) of the Weimar Republic secretly contracted with Soviet authorities to operate a clandestine military aviation base and test facility near Lipetsk – circumventing prohibitions of the Versailles Treaty. The base enabled technical collaboration by the two powers whose separate defeats in World War I left them isolated in post-war Europe. This activity inside the U.S.S.R. took place away from the vigilant eyes of the victors.[16]