Iriga, from a phrase in the dialect meaning "there is land", grew from the pre-Spanish settlement of inhabitants from the neighboring Nabua town who were looking for higher grounds due to the perennial flooding of the place.

From this settlement, Iriga developed as a barrio in 1578, as a town in 1683, and as a city on September 3, 1968. While Iriga is Bicol region's youngest city, it however has a colorful history and rich tradition which lend its people a unique pride.

The country's first bus company had its beginnings here, when in 1914, a former American serviceman, Albert L. Ammen converted a two cylinder Grawbosky truck into a passenger bus. This became the foreruneer of the present Philtranco fleet of buses and established iriga as the birthplace of the country's bus transportation industry. Ammen's driver, Max L. Blouse, would also start the BLTB four years later in Batangas. Two of the country's noted names in sports, Genaro Saavedra and Juan Taduran, athletic greats in the old equilvalent of the Asian Games in the early 1900s; radio and TV host former Senator Eddie Ilarde, and filmdom's Superstar Nora Aunor all trace their common roots in Iriga.