Csurgó was first mentioned in the establishing charter of the Abbey of Zalavár in 1019 when Saint Stephen of Hungary donated the village and its goods to the Benedictine monks.

They settled on the so-called Felső-Csurgó (English: Upper Csurgo) part of the village on a hill in a marsh.

According to the legends Béla IV fled through Csurgó after the Battle of Muhi where he stayed for a night and drank from the Holy Mary Well.

In the beginning of the 18th century Csurgó was almost empty and belonged to the Festetics family who decided to revive the settlement.

The section of the train line connecting Budapest to Fiume (today Rijeka, Croatia) near Csurgó was finished in 1872.

The Hungarian folk song A juhásznak jól van dolga was collected in Alsok (part of Csurgó) in 1898 by Béla Vikár.