Halenkov was founded in 1654 by Jiří Illésházy, a Hungarian nobleman who bought the Vsetín estate in 1652. Until the 19th century, it was an agricultural village. In the 19th century, Halenkov weas industrialized. In addition to several smallerfactories, one of the Gebrüder Thonet furniture factories was founded here in 1868. The railway was built in 1908.