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Pell City was founded in 1890 by railroad investors and named after George Pell of the Pell City Iron and Land Company, one of its financial backers. The city was incorporated on May 6, 1891, but nearly failed during the Panic of 1893.Pell City was revived in 1902 when Sumter Cogswell built the Pell City Manufacturing Company, which subsequently became Avondale Mills, a major landmark of the town until Thunder Enterprises, a Tennessee company, bought the building and began dismantling the factory in 2008.

On February 14, 2008 a fire started at the mill. The fire was so large it could be seen from the Chula Vista/ Springville exit on Interstate 20 (I20). The water tower remains but the smoke stack was destroyed by workers after cracking in the cement made it a hazard. The mill was the economic and social center of the town during its development and early growth.

Besides the textile mill, other economic endeavors included agriculture and mercantile establishments. Large cotton, soybean, and cattle farms were located in the area. Pell City increased its size in 1956 when the nearby towns of Eden and Oak Ridge were merged with the city. The first mayor was Green Evans. The residences of Sumter Cogswell and Green Evans (Pell City's first mayor) are two of the earliest structures, dating from the late nineteenth century.

The majority of the historic structures date from 1902 to 1905. Ashville, Alabama, in the northern part of St. Clair County was the county seat from 1821 to 1907. A constitutional amendment in 1907 established Pell City as the second county seat, and for many years St. Clair County was the only county in the country with two full-service county seats.

Both county seats remain operational to this day although Pell City has far surpassed Ashville in growth in large part due to I-20 and Logan Martin Lake. The construction of Logan Martin Dam in 1964 created the lake and a large recreational area, which brought new businesses, temporary summer residents and tourists, and hundreds of new permanent residents building new homes along the new lake. On April 8, 1998, an F2 tornado struck north of the city limits after the F5 tornado expired in western Jefferson County.

This windstorm killed two people in a mobile home. It remained for 14 mi (23 km), partially damaging a church, twenty-six homes and mobile homes, and other buildings in Coal City. Ninety other homes and mobile homes suffered minor to major destruction. An additional twelve people were injured. The twister damaged a funeral home and twenty-five homes.

The Bethel Baptist Church in Odenville was destroyed a few minutes after its members left an Easter pageant rehearsal that had been cancelled because of the storm. In 2006 Avondale Mills ceased operations. Two years later, in February 2008, Avondale Mills burned down in an accidental fire. At the time, Thunder Enterprises, a Tennessee firm, had completed almost half of the work in dismantling the building for materials.

No employees were harmed in the fire. In November 2015, Pell City made global news when a video of the Avondale Mills smokestack went viral on the internet. During a demolition of the smokestack, the 133-year-old structure collapsed on top of construction worker, Tim Philfer. Luckily, Philfer walked away unharmed from this accident.