The history of the town dates back to the Middle Ages settlement, then known as Cierniogród. The town had city rights from the 16th to 19th century, and regained them in 1987. There are various tourist attractions in the town, including a synagogue built in 1686 and a late baroque church built between 1750–1771. Outside the church there is a belfry from 1777. Even though Tarnogród now belongs toLublin Voivodeship, the town does not have any historic connections with Lesser Poland, as for most of its history, it was part of Red Ruthenian Land of Przemyśl. Currently, Tarnogród is the southernmost town of the voivodeship; the distance to Lublin is 110 kilometres, while the distance to Rzeszów is only. In the early 19th century, Tarnogród was 7th biggest town of Russian-controlled Congress Poland, and in 1810–1842, it was the seat of a county. Tarnogród was founded in the mid-16th century in a location where a defensive gord called Cierniogród once had existed. It received Magdeburg rights in Piotrków Trybunalski, on 14 May 1567, from King Zygmunt August. The House of Zamoyski, which owned Tarnogród, built houses around a market square, together with a wooden town hall and prison tower. Later on, a hospital was added, together with two churches and a bathhouse. The town had three gates, its population in 1589 is estimated at app. 1,500. In 1588, Tarnogród became part of Zamoyski Family Fee Tail. The town had a vogt, a mayor and a council. In the early 17th century, Tarnogród had two Roman Catholic churches, a synagogue and an Orthodox church. In the mid-17th century, numerous wars and plagues decimated Tarnogrod’s population. On 26 November 1715, the Tarnogród Confederation was formed here. Following the first partition of Poland, the town was captured by Austrians, who brought here German settlers. Austrian rule ended in 1809, and for the next 6 years, Tarnogród belonged to the Duchy of Warsaw, in which it became the seat of a county. In 1815, the Duchy was renamed into Russian-controlled Congress Poland, in which Tarnogród initially was 7th largest city, with population of 3,391. On 19 May 1870, Tarnogród lost its town charter, even though its population reached 5,000. On 17 June 1915, Tarnogród was captured by Austrian forces, which remained here until November 1918. In the Second Polish Republic, Tarnogrod belonged to Biłgoraj County, Lublin Voivodeship. On 15 September 1939, the Wehrmacht entered the village, burning several houses. On 27 September the Germans withdrew and were replaced by the Red Army, which remained here for two weeks. On 26 October 1939, Tarnogród became part of General Government’s Lublin District. Germans carried out several massacres in the area of the village, which resulted in the Polish rebellion, the Zamość Uprising. Red Army re-entered Tarnogród in July 1944. On the outbreak of World War II, there were about 2,500 Jews in Tarnogród. The Jewish community was liquidated on 2 November 1942, when 3,000 Jews from Tarnogród and its vicinity were deported to the Belzec death camp. On 1 January 1987, Tarnogród regained its town status.
