Cuesmes is a small town best known for having been the home of Vincent Van Gogh for a brief two year period of 1879-80. This time immediately precedes Van Gogh's productive decade of 1880-90; he came to Cuesmes to preach, but gradually abandoned those ambitions, and began to execute drawings instead. The house where he lived has been preserved as a museum.
In 1971, Cuesmes was incorporated into Mons.