Cegłów was granted town rights in 1621 by Polish King Sigismund III Vasa.

Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, Cegłów was occupied by Germany.

[2] Local Polish railwaymen gave shelter to many Jews who escaped from transports to the Treblinka extermination camp.

[3] Polish railwaymen and Jewish escapees jointly carried out acts of sabotage on the Mińsk Mazowiecki-Mrozy railroad, attacking German trains.

[3] On June 28, 1943, the German gendarmerie, SS and Gestapo cracked down on the resistance and murdered 26 Poles, including women and children, and an unknown number of Jewish escapees.