The first mention of Crasna Vișeului village dates back to 1411 in the "Diploma of Robert, King of Hungary", which calls it the domain of the successors of Dragoș and Bogdan.

Its name derives from the Vișeu river and the word Valea (Valley in Romanian, Долина (r. Dolyna) in Ukrainian).

Despite the lack of clear information, it is believed the original settlers in this area of the Tisza river bank were Hutsuls.

[3][4] Between 1985 and 1989, a group of archeologists uncovered, in a place called Uloha, objects made of bronze that date back to the XI century.

These objects are now in the custody of the Sighetu Marmației Museum of History and are the oldest records of human settlement in the area.

It is home to the commune's town hall and police department, and the Bistra I-VIII Grade School.

A large part of the population also works in the public sector, in education, health, administration, telecommunications and rail.

The Majority of the population is Orthodox Christian,[8] and has been since the arrival of the first settlers, as outlined by Alexandru Filipașcu in 'The History of Maramureș'.

[3] Vasile Duciuc of the National Liberal Party was re-elected as mayor of Bistra commune for a third term in the 2020 Romanian local elections.

List of mayors:[3] Valea Vișeului was historically either administered by Rona de Sus or autonomous.