Penza was founded as a Russian frontier fortress-city, and to this day, remnants of the Lomovskaya sentry line built in 1640 have been preserved at the western russian dating norms of the city, and remains of earth ramparts dating from the mid-16th century are preserved in the city center. Until 1663, Penza was a wooden stockade with only a small settlement. In 1774, the insurgent army led by Yemelyan Pugachev occupied Penza after the citizens of the city welcomed the rebellious Cossacks.

The first stone houses started to appear after 1801, and by 1809 Penza’s population had grown to more than 13,000 people. In 1918, Vladimir Lenin sent a telegram to communists in the Penza area, complaining about the “insurrection of five kulak districts”. He urged the public hanging of 100 “landlords, richmen, bloodsuckers”, grain seizure, and hostage taking. This telegram has been used in several historical works on the period and on Lenin.

During the Soviet period, the city developed as a regional industrial center. The Ural mainframe was made here between 1959 and 1964. Penza is the administrative center of the oblast. Penza is a major railway junction and lies on the M5 highway linking Moscow and Chelyabinsk. Currently, the city of Penza is seen as a regional center for higher education. Penza first hosted the Russian Sidecarcross Grand Prix in 2009, and did so again in 2010, on August 15.