(Source: http://www.infokart.ru/karta-degtyarska)

 Charcoal burners were the first who settled around the modern Degtyarsk and burned charcoals of for Revdinskiye factories of Demidov. The by-product craft was distillation of tar from birch bark, pine resin and pine stumps. Hence came the name of the first small village in 1904 – Degtyarka (“Tar Village”).

In early XX century the demand for iron has sharply fallen due to the industrial crisis. In order to save the mining industry in the Middle Urals, they began to dig for iron pyrite, and later copper ore. Mining industry involved Degtyarka as well; two copper mines were laid here.

In 30-s of XX century the Degtyarsky copper mine was included into the facilities of the Medium-Ural Copper Factory(MUCF)  under construction. Simultaneously with MUCF they also built “Bolshaya (“Big”) Degtyarka” — the social town and the roads interconnecting the different parts of Degtyarka with each other, and the Degtyarka - with Sverdlovsk, a processing plant, a wood-processing factory, a brick factory.

In November of 1954 by the Order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, the village of Degtyarka was transformed into the town of Degtyarsk.

The most famous page of the history of Degtyarsk contains the ill-fated flight of Francis Powers. On May 1, 1960 year his reconnaissance plane U-2 Lockheed was shot down in the skies above Degtyarsk; the pilot survived, appeared before the Court and was sentenced to 10 years for espionage. Later Powers was exchanged for the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.

Together with the plane belonging to Powers, the anti-aircraft gunners accidently shot down one of MIG-19 interceptors raised to the sky by alarm and driven by the Senior Lieutenant Sergei Safronov. The pilot managed to divert the falling airplane outside the city and thus, most likely, he saved many lives.

However, he had no time to eject himself.

In early 2000 a monument to Sergei Safronov was installed in the Central Park of Culture and Recreation, opposite to the Mining Administration of Degtyarsk.