During the Edo period, the area of present-day Ōta contained two post towns on the Nikkō Reiheishi Kaidō, a subroute to Nikkō Kaidō which connected the Nakasendō directly with Nikkō, bypassing Edo.,[REF] the , (from which the city takes its name) and [REF].
Modern Ōta Town was created within Nitta District, Gunma Prefecture on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the municipalities system after the Meiji Restoration.