In the 13th century, the area was populated by Cumans, who were guaranteed a certain degree of autonomy by Béla VI of Hungary.

In April 1941 German troops invaded Yugoslavia, and short later Germany handed the area to Hungary.

After the Hungarian occupation of the village in 1941, Jews were brutally persecuted, and after the German invasion in 1944 were deported to Nazi concentration camps.

The village was the seat of the famous Hungarian noble family, the Kárász de Horgos et Szentpéter.

Among other noteworthy personalities who were born in Horgos are the astronomer László L. Kiss, the musician Albert Földi, the artists István Fujkin and Miklós Berényi, the actor Lehel Kovács and the computer scientist Josef H. Braun.