The town is located in the north-western part of the district of Wałcz on the route Wałcz-Kalisz Pomorski (national road no 10).

Mirosławiec was granted a town charter in 1303 by margrave Waldemar, when the region was shortly in the hands of Brandenburgians. Earlier, a Slavonic settlement existed there – it allegedly had a parish church already in the 13th century. The settlement, and then the town, has many names throughout the ages, including Frydlancik, Frydlandek, Fredlądczyk, Frydląd, and Frydląd Marchijski.

The town belonged to the Wedel family since 1314. This was a wealthy family, so Mirosławiec was able to develop quickly. Already in the first year of the Wedel’s ownership, Mirosławiec was granted a document issued on February 2nd, which created favourable conditions for the town: it marked out the town limits and thoroughly described the sources and rules of the town’s revenue. The town was growing quickly on a rectangular plan with a regular system of streets. Since 1368, Mirosławiec, then known as Nowy Frydland, returned under the Polish domination. In 1409 however, the town was seized by the Teutonic Knights, who remained there till 1466. Then, under the Treaty of Toruń, Nowy Frydland got back to Poland. The Wedel family of Mirosławiec were increasingly growing away from the Wedels of Tuczno, and in order to be distinct form them they took up a nickname “of Frydland”, and in contrast to the Wedels of Tuczno, who were staunch Catholics, they converted to Lutheranism in 1535. As a result of this, almost the entire town became Protestant. A Protestant church was built, and the abandoned Catholic church deteriorated for more than dozen years, and was finally plundered and pulled down.

Since 1581, the proprietors of the town were the Blankenburgs, who quickly came into conflict with the local nobility. As a result, in 1591, the local noblemen forayed in order to drive out Blankenburg. A similar action was taken in 1599. This time the noblemen used cannons, the castle was destroyed, and the city plundered. In the late 17th century, a Jewish population started to come to the town – at the beginning of the 19th century they constituted more than a half of the town’s population. Thus, in Mirosławiec, the largest Jewish community in West Pomerania was established.

In the 18th century, there were several large fires, and in 1772 the Prussian rule started. In the years 1791-1813, Mirosławiec was inhabited by Akiba Eger, who was a leader of a Jewish community there and run a famous Talmudic school. An important event for the town was a short visit of Queen Louise, a wife of Friedrich Wilhelm III, who stayed there for one night, running away from Napoleonic troops in 1806. In 1836, due to the childless death of the last heir of the von Blankenburg family, the town lost its status of a private city and was handed down under full Prussian jurisdiction. The turn of the 19th and the 20th century brought a rapid development of Mirosławiec; the town gained railway connections, a new school was built, the town was electrified, a new residential district was built, an oat mill, a soap factory, and a distillery were operating in the town. The city centre was considerably destroyed during the military actions of 1945. On February 10th, 1945, the First Polish Army seized the town using armoured forces. The town was named Mirosławiec and went back to Poland. After the Second World War, the “Samopomoc Chłopska” Communal Cooperative Association, the Communal Machine Centre, and a national Residential Centre were established there. The 1960s brought the development of vocational education; in 1971, the “Predom-Romet” Bicycle Factory was established, and the Municipal Community Centre was opened. In 1984, the Museum of the Pomeranian Wall was opened. In 2000, Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek decided to incorporate the area of an airport to Mirosławiec.

The noteworthy historic buildings include the Immaculate Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary church, an old granary, a family cemetery from the 19th century on the Piaskowa Mountain, residential buildings (24 Wałecka Street and 6 Kościelna Street), and a castle ward from the 14th century with the remnants of a park-palace complex.