Le Cerneux-Péquignot
Origin of the name Le Cerneux-Péquignot
The name goes back to the end of the 13th century and comes from the Péquignot family of Montlebon (Doubs), who cleared the glade. The first part, « Cerneux », is said to derive from Latin « circĭnāre » or from the verb « cerner » (to strip the bark from trees), followed by a diminutive suffix, and to mean a summer or mountain pasture enclosed by a fence or a wall (to be cross-checked).
Founding of Le Cerneux-Péquignot
The village was born of a clearing: at the end of the 13th century the Péquignot family of Montlebon, a locality now in the French department of Doubs, opened the glade that gives it its name. From the 13th century to the Revolution, Le Cerneux-Péquignot belonged to the priory of Morteau in Franche-Comté. Ceded, without Montlebon, by France to the principality of Neuchâtel by the first Treaty of Paris of May 1814, it only officially became part of Neuchâtel in February 1819. Lying at 1'070 m, away from the main road and rail routes, it has kept a significant agriculture, with a few single-block estates called maix, and a woodworking craft.
History of Le Cerneux-Péquignot
end of the 13th century. The Péquignot family of Montlebon clears the glade that gives the village its name.
13th century-Revolution. Le Cerneux-Péquignot belongs to the priory of Morteau in Franche-Comté.
1639. During the Thirty Years' War the village is attacked by the troops of Bernard of Saxe-Weimar.
1678. Together with the Val de Morteau and Franche-Comté, the village passes to France (to be cross-checked).
1690. Construction of the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-la-Visitation.
1814. By the first Treaty of Paris, in May, France cedes Le Cerneux-Péquignot, without Montlebon, to the principality of Neuchâtel.
1819. In February the village officially becomes part of Neuchâtel; a convention of 1 February sets the details of the border, whose boundary stones are placed the same year (to be cross-checked).
1820. Le Cerneux-Péquignot, then entirely Catholic, passes from the diocese of Besançon to that of Lausanne; it is included in the jurisdiction of La Brévine.
1848. End of its attachment to the jurisdiction of La Brévine.
1866. A statue of the Virgin is erected at Le Gardot, near the border, a sign of the Catholic inhabitants' attachment to France (to be cross-checked).
Population of Le Cerneux-Péquignot
| 1819 | 300 |
| 1850 | 301 |
| 1900 | 336 |
| 1950 | 410 |
| 1980 | 290 |
| 2000 | 313 |
| 2025 | 313 (31 December) |
Historic sites in Le Cerneux-Péquignot
Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-la-Visitation. Chapel built in 1690, which became the parish church of this Catholic village, part of the diocese of Lausanne since 1820.
Statue of the Virgin at Le Gardot. Statue of the Virgin erected in 1866 at Le Gardot, a stone's throw from the French-Swiss border (to be cross-checked).
The maix. Le Cerneux-Péquignot has kept a few single-block farm estates, called maix, witnesses to the significant agriculture of this village away from the main routes.
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Cerneux-Péquignot, Le »
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Brévine, La »
- État de Neuchâtel, arrêté du 4 février 2026 homologuant le recensement cantonal de la population au 31 décembre 2025
- Wikipédia, « Le Cerneux-Péquignot » (à recouper)
Other villages near Le Cerneux-Péquignot
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