European Orthodox Jews established the settlement in 1878 and named it Petah Tikva after a prophecy of Hosea. Because of this, it is the oldest agricultural settlement erected by Zionist Jews in the 19th century and therefore nicknamed "Em HaMoshavot", meaning "mother of the moshavot". The new settlement was attacked by raiders in 1886, a few guards volunteered to keep it safe from raiders, in total the settlement had six guards, the last and most famous out of them is , his original house stand til this day intact. It obtained city status in 1937.