After the signing of the Georgievsk Treaty between Russia and Georgia in 1783, by the decree of Catherine II, the Azov-Mozdok defensive line was established in the Caucasus. This led to the emergence of many Cossack settlements, towns, and redoubts in the Caucasus, including the Essentuki settlement.

The ancestors of the residents of Essentuki were Cossacks from the Don River, a tributary of the Volga. In 1825, they arrived at the Essentuki redoubt, bringing with them a wooden church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin with an iconostasis and church utensils from the 17th century. The church was established in the northern part of the settlement as a prayer house without domes and a bell tower. In 1833, the authorities confiscated the prayer house, and a church of the same faith was organized in its place. In 1864, the Old Believers elected Father Feoktist Terentyevich Smirnov as their priest, ordained by Bishop Ioasaph. Feoktist is buried on the grounds of the modern Pokrovsky Church. In 1870, another Old Believer prayer house was built, where services were held in a private house with a temporary altar until 1875. In 1875, a permanent altar and iconostasis were set up in the prayer house. However, in 1877, the church burned down along with the iconostasis, which contained 17th-century icons, and the Old Believers began to pray in the house of M.G. Khlebnikov.

In 1878, with the permission of the authorities, a new church was built in the name of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin with an altar and a carved iconostasis, but without a dome and crosses. This church has survived to this day. In the list of clergy of the Don and Caucasian Bishop Siluan from 1883, Priest Konstantin and Priest Lukian are mentioned. In 1905, the Pokrovskaya Church was restored in the settlement as a full-fledged church with domes and crosses, and a temporary wooden bell tower for four bells was also built.

In 1908, with the funds of local merchant Ivan Egorovich Gridin, a building for an Old Believer school was constructed. In 1912, a bell tower for nine bells was added to the Pokrovsky Church, which has survived to this day. The ensemble of bells was specially acquired, the largest of which weighed 29 poods (464 kg). The initiators of the bell tower construction were the community trustees, Cossacks Khlebnikov, Popov, and Minakov. A large cross was installed with Minakov's funds. In the 1910s, the church was served by Priest Feoktist Smirnov, Father Fyodor Ostrovsky, and Father Nikon Isaevich Miguzov. After Father Fyodor, Father Grigory Krotov served, who had been a deacon since 1904 and a priest from 1924 until his death in 1948. He is buried on the church grounds next to Father Feoktist.