Velsk

First mentioned in 1137 [Pospelov, 1998: 1397]. In the chronicle under 1397 it is referred to as the volost of Vel. In the 16th century and later the Welsh Pogost. The name of the location at the mouth of the river Vel; hydronym from the Russian household obsolete greatness - "great, big".

Since 1780, Velsk is a district city of the Vologda governorship.

In the 19th century - the center of flax production and insulating (developed from the 16th century), as well as the production of turpentine and tar. The local fairs were famous. The bustling Moscow Road passed through the city. At the request of the local zemstvo (1895), the laying of a railway to Welsk was approved as a "natural center of flaxseed and pitched production."

Since the late 19th century. Welsk is known as a place of political exile.