Wuhu is an ancient historical city. It was the first city in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and its site is now Huangchi Town, Wuhu County. In A.D. 109, Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, was named Wuhu for "storing water in a depression and growing weeds". Wuhu County was established in the Western Han Dynasty, and now Wuhu City has developed on this basis, with a history of more than 2,000 years. Wuhu City was developed on the basis of the original Wuhu County after the founding of the People's Republic of China. According to historical records and research by teachers and students majoring in historical geography in Peking University, Wuhu has a history of more than 2,000 years. The city has undergone several changes and expansions.

The earliest former site of Wuhu is Jiuzi, located on the south bank of Shuiyangjiang, about 40 miles southeast of the city. Zuo Zhuan said, "In the third year of Duke Xiang of Lu (570 BC), Chu attacked Wu and conquered nine sons. As for Hengshan. " The Hengshan Mountain mentioned here is the Hengshan Mountain in the northeast of dangtu county. Jiuzicheng site is located at the end of the erosion mound extending northward on the south bank of Shuiyangjiang River. From this, the terrain to the west is low and flat, mostly in hutang swamp area. Because there are many grasses in the lake and marsh, there are many pigeons and birds, so they are named Jiuzi, also known as "Dog Son", "Gao Zi" and "Zhuzi". There is a long lake near Jiuzi, named Wuhu because of "the water is not deep and weeds grow". At that time, this section of Shuiyangjiang was called Zhongjiang, with the Yangtze River in the west and Taihu Lake in the east, which was an important east-west traffic waterway. Jiuzi is the ferry that controls Zhongjiang, and its position is very important. In 109 BC, that is, in the second year of Han Yuanfeng, Jiuzi had set up a county and changed its name to Wuhu, which was the early city of Wuhu.

After Wuhu was established as a county, it developed in the Han Dynasty. In the Three Kingdoms, Wuhu became increasingly important because of frequent wars. Wu is located in Jiangdong, and Cao Wei takes the Yangtze River as a natural barrier. However, its major towns are far from the Yangtze River. In order to meet the military needs, in the second year of Huang Wu (223), Sun Quan moved Wuhu County from Jiuzi to the southeast corner of the city, not far from the mouth of Qingyi River (the old rule of Jiuzi was not reused), making it the oldest urban area in Wuhu today. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wuhu has become an important town in Linjiang. In 324 AD, General Wang Dun stationed troops in Maofeng Mountain to build a city, so he was called "Wang Duncheng". In the 9th year of Yixi in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (4 13), Wuhu entered Xiangyuan County, and the county-level administrative system of Wuhu was abolished. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Wuhu was a town in dangtu county.