The current name and organization of the town have a fairly rich history. The centre village Pec pod Snežkou was granted town rights on 1.1.1987. Nowadays, the town consists of two local districts - Pec pod Sněžkou and Velká Úpa. Velká Úpa is further divided into Velká Úpa I and Velká Úpa II (the border is the stream of the Úpa River). Therefore, in cadastral maps, our town is divided into three cadastral areas (Pec pod Sněžkou, Velká Úpa I and Velká Úpa II).

The current territory of Pec pod Sněžkou was probably settled as early as in the 15th century by miners and prospectors, who came along the Úpa River from lower and already settled areas. Velká Úpa was probably the oldest inhabited part of the village; Pec itself was settled a little later. Reports about mining activity and smelting iron, arsine and copper ores from 1534 were preserved. In 1771, when the first numbering of houses took place, one numerical sequence was established – the whole village was a unified complex called Aupa (Úpa), which was changed to GroßAupa (Velká Úpa) later on. In the last but one i.e. 19th century, the village Velká Úpa was divided into three parts, which were transformed in 1871 into independent villages - GroßAupa I (Velká Úpa I), GroßAupa II (Velká Úpa II) and GroßAupa III (Petzer, Pecr, Pec, Pec pod Sněžkou). Therefore, till 1945 the current cadastral area of Pec pod Sněžkou was an independent village with the name derived from its neighbours – “the third part of Velká Úpa”, i.e. GroßAupa III. The origin of the German name Petzer, which was Czechicized to Pecr during the First Republic, is a rather disputable and yet unclear matter. Probably it has a lot in common with smelting furnaces, which were located in the then territory of the village. There are at least other two versions of how the name Petzer came into being but their explanation would require a lengthy discourse. For the first time the name Petzer (then in the form of Petzergrund - Pecký důl (Pec Mine)) was recorded in mining books in 1731; they were written partially by the Czechs who engaged in smelting for Berthold Viléma z Valdštejna. The Czech name furnace (Pec) was only Germanized to Petzer.

After the First World War, Pec became a coveted tourist centre and the original mining village was gradually transformed into a famous tourist centre. The construction of two sections of cableway Pec - R?žová hora (Rose Mountain) – Sněžka, which took place in 1948 – 50, and follow-up development of a system of ski lifts and downhill ski slopes had a crucial impact on further development of the town.

The tag "pod Sněžkou" was added to the name of the village Pec in 1948 to differentiate it from the village in Šumava, which then had the same name (nowadays Nová Pec, district Prachatice). Shortly before, the village was called Pec v Krkonoších.
The reunification of the villages Velká Úpa (its individual districts, i.e. Velká Úpa I and Velká Úpa II, as two independent villages, were unified in 1945 to form an independent village) and Pec pod Sněžkou took place in 1960.
In 1990 and 1992, two unsuccessful local referendums for the independence of Velká Úpa took place

Pec pod Sněžkou nowadays

Nowadays, the town of Pec pod Sněžkou is one of the most renowned and most visited mountain tourist centres in the Czech Republic with year-round utilization at the height of 750 m above sea level. It has approximately 600 inhabitants. It is located in the valley of the Úpa River, Zelený potok (Green Brook) and Lucní potok (Meadow Brook), in beautiful nature among the tops of Černá hora (Black Mountain) (1299 m), Jelení vrch (Deer Hill) (1024 m.), Liščí hora (Fox Mountain) (1363 m.), Studniční hora (1554 m.) and Sněžka. Situated on the boarder with Poland, Sněžka with its 1602 meters is the highest mountain in the territory of the Czech Republic.
Pec pod Sněžkou also includes nearby Velká Úpa, numerous mountain villages and lonely houses spread out high up to the ridges. The whole area of the town is located in the Krkonoše National Park.