The settlement was also known as Erzsebetbanya, since it used to be the location of many properties of Elizabeth Szilágyi, wife of John Hunyadi and mother of Matthias Corvinus.

However, skeletal remains of animals and traces of human activity in the Poiana Botizii cave dating back to the Upper Paleolithic, indicate the area was populated long before that.

[3] The commune is situated in the central part of the county, on the upper course of the Lăpuș River, 80 km (50 mi) southeast of the city of Baia Mare.

[4][5][7] On the 27th of March 2018, at around 3:30 am, a powerful noise followed by flooding with pit water from the shut-down Breiner Mine hit Băiuț.

Following the accident, the Maramureș County Prefect, Vasile Moldovan, requested that the company responsible for shutting down the commune's mines, Conversmin, pay for the repopulation of the river.