The aim of the article is presentation of territorial self-government institution on Polish soil before 1918. The subject of the discussion it to show changes made through evolution, in the system of functioning of territorial self-government in Poland. The following research methods have been used to analyze this article: the historical-legal method, consisting in the analysis of the process of development of local self-government institutions and the search for specific cause-and-effect relationships, the method of analysis of sources, consisting mainly in the analysis of the texts of legal acts and the comparative method, which has been applied in relation to the functioning of local self-government institutions. The legal regulations relating to local self-government units are analysed in the context of the then historical situation. The subject considerations are time-limited to the establishment of the Second Republic of Poland in 1918.