The village was owned by the Prince-Bishop of Basel and was part of the seigniory of Erguel. The municipal charter was created in the early 17th century and confirmed in 1623 and again in 1672. During the Thirty Years War the village was attacked and burned. Originally there was little land and no forests attached to the village. The lack of arable land and the resulting revenue made it very difficult for the village to meet their obligations. In 1767, the Prince-Bishop granted Erguel Castle and the surrounding lands to La Ferrière to hold as a fief. In 1806, the political municipality of La Ferrière inherited the castle and lands and in 1828 sold them to Sonvilier. After the 1797 French invasion the village became part of the parish of Renan in the French Department of Mont-Terrible. The parish was later transferred to the Department of Haut-Rhin. After Napoleon's defeat in 1815, the region became part of the Canton of Bern, though La Ferrière remained part of the Renan parish until 1861.