The exact time of the founding of the Yamskaya sloboda near the city of Pereslavl is not established, but it can be assumed that it occurred in ancient times. Pereslavl is located on an important road leading from Moscow north to cities such as Rostov, Yaroslavl, Vologda, and Arkhangelsk. This route was busy, and in the 15th-17th centuries, a "yamskaya gonba" was organized for the transportation of mail and passengers. Pits were arranged along the route where horses were changed. The transport was carried out by yamschiks who lived in special yamskaya slobodas.

In the 17th century, the existence of such a sloboda near Pereslavl is confirmed by documents. According to the census books of 1677, there were 70 households of yamsk hunters, peasants who voluntarily became yamschiks, as well as households of a clerk, a yamsk deacon, and a landless peasant.

The church in the Yamskaya sloboda existed as early as the beginning of the 17th century. It had a main altar in honor of the Most Pure Mother of God Odigitria and paid tribute to the patriarchal treasury. The census books of 1677 mention that the church was wooden, with an altar dedicated to Saints Flora and Lavra, built by the parishioners, and a priest named Ilya served there.

During the reign of Peter the Great, when the connections between Pereslavl and Moscow strengthened during the construction of the playful fleet, pastures were allocated to the yamschiks in various places.

In 1683, the parishioners purchased a ready-made church from the Pereslavl Feodorovsky Monastery, which was transported to the sloboda and consecrated in 1685, preserving the previous altars.

In 1820, the parishioners built the existing stone temple with a bell tower. The temple had two altars: in the cold part in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God and in the warm altar in the name of Saints Martyrs Flora and Lavra. A three-tiered bell tower was erected next to the church. The church was well supplied with utensils and liturgical books. Natalia Vzimskova, who became a nun of the Feodorovsky Monastery, made many valuable gifts to the church.

The priest lived in a church house built by the parishioners, while the psalmist lived in his own. The land near the church was cultivated by the clergy themselves. The parish included the Yamskaya sloboda and the village of Troitskoye, located two versts from the church. Until 1764, it belonged to the Pereslavl Danilov Monastery, and after the abolition of the monastery's estates, free peasants of landlady Kumanina lived there.

In 1876, the church in the village of Yam was annexed to the Sretenskaya and Alexandrovskaya churches of Pereslavl. Since 1883, a zemstvo public school operated at the church in the Yamskaya sloboda, where 33 students were educated ten years later.