These include the neolithic stilt houses on the banks of Lake Neuchâtel, the caves of Abri Baume du Four (occupied from the Neolithic to the La Tène period), tumuli of the Hallstatt period in the Vallon de Vers and two Celtic villages at Les Buchilles.

There a number of Roman era artifacts and a Burgundian cemetery at Bel-Air by the Areuse river.

Pontareuse was near the bridge, with which the Roman road of Vy d'Etraz crossed the Areuse, while Vermondins was on a plateau near the modern city of Boudry.

On 12 September 1343, Count Louis granted the town a charter modeled after the laws of the city of Neuchatel, albeit with some limitations.

In 1369 they acquired the right to collect the Ungeld or excise tax in the towns of Boudry and Cortaillod.

In 1373, Marguerite de Vufflens, the widow of Louis of Neuchâtel, was given the office of Castellan in Boudry.

However, the stormy relationship between the citizens and the family caused Isabella of Neuchâtel to give the office to her mother-in-law in 1379.

The castellan office in Boudry was temporarily held by Girard of Neuchatel, the Lord of Vaumarcus, between 1394 and 1413.

The castellan had jurisdiction over both Boudry, the nearby priory of Bevaix and part of Bôle.

[3] During the Middle Ages, the parish church of Boudry was located in Pontareuse, north of the town.

At that time the parish comprised a part of Cortaillod, Boudry, Bôle, Rochefort and Brot and stretched, in the north, to the border with the County of Burgundy.

The right of présentation (the ability to present a candidate for an office, who could only be rejected if his appointment would break a law) was held by the cathedral chapter of Lausanne.

At the beginning of the 17th Century the inhabitants of Rochefort and Bôle both had a deacon who specially supervised their churches.

In 1523, the community received permission to lease their communal lands, followed in 1526, by the right to build houses outside the walls.

The maintenance of the walls, the gates of the bridge and the town hall was paid from a fund which was managed by Boudry and Cortaillod together.

The funds came from a special tax (Eminem de la porte), which was only paid by the inhabitants of Cortaillod.

Only members of the citizen or the permanent resident (the so-called bourgeois non-communities) classes were allowed to join the municipal community, were not granted.

In the 18th Century Boudry became industrialized with the founding of three factories; Vauvilliers (from before 1742 until 1874), Les Iles (1727–1844) and Grand Champ (1761–1841).

Other businesses in Boudry included the publishing house La Baconnière, which peaked during the Second World War.

The proposed merger of the municipalities of Bevaix, Boudry and Cortaillod was rejected by the residents.

[10] The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][14] The prehistoric settlement of La Baume Du Four is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

The entire city of Boudry, and the Areuse, Grandchamp and Trois Rods areas are part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

In the tertiary sector; 224 or 18.3% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 77 or 6.3% were in the movement and storage of goods, 34 or 2.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 3 or 0.2% were in the information industry, 15 or 1.2% were the insurance or financial industry, 133 or 10.8% were technical professionals or scientists, 26 or 2.1% were in education and 460 or 37.5% were in health care.