Jevnica was first attested in written sources in 1449 as an der Gelnicz. The settlement is probably named after Jevnica Creek, a hydronym derived from the Slovene common noun jela 'fir', thus referring to the local vegetation.[3] Locally, the settlement is also known as Vevnica,[3][4] an example of assimilation at a distance.
History
At the beginning of the 20th century, Jevnica had only three houses and was a hamlet of Kresniške Poljane. The oldest house in the settlement is the Šepak house, which was built from boards from boats used to navigate the Sava River. A school was established in the Šepak house in 1921. The railway station in the town was opened in 1927, and a separate building for the school was built in 1929. During the Second World War, a Partisan business committee was headquartered in Jevnica, and it was also on the Partisan's dispatch route between Lower Carniola and Styria. Many of the residents joined the Partisan movement on 6 January 1943. A plaque on the Pintar house states that the woman living there burned to death when German forces burned the house in November 1944. A community center with a store, bar, and hall was built in Jevnica in 1948.[4]