The road that today constitutes the street was laid by Francisco Pizarro when he founded the city of Lima on January 18, 1535. In 1862, when a new urban nomenclature was adopted, the road was named jirón Puno, after Puno Department. Prior to this renaming, each block (cuadra) had a unique name:
Block 1: Bejarano, until 1862, later known as de Mantequería de Boza, the latter after the creamery operated by the noble family of the same name.[1]
Block 2: Pregonería (Vieja), after the town criery located there.[2]
Block 3: Azaña, after the family of the same name.[3]
Block 5: Juan Valiente (Santa Teresa), after the convent of the same name, inaugurated on November 21, 1696, and abolished for its low number of nuns, who were moved to the nearby Monastery of Carmen Alto.[5]
In 2015, a fire burned down a two-storey house located on the street's fourth block.[11] A similar event occurred in 2016.[12] A number of fires have also taken place in nearby Mesa Redonda, notably that of 2001, and most recently in late 2023.[13]