Sudogda is both a river and a city located on its banks the first mention of which dates back to 1552. The local population has long been engaged in agriculture and handicraft woodworking. Blooming meadows, endless forests full of mushrooms and berries, picturesque banks of winding streams with clear spring water... Any traveller can be captivated by the charm of these places.

There is no written evidence of the time of the initial founding of the settlement on the site of today's Sudogda, but there is no doubt that as early as at beginning of the 16th century there was a settlement here. The first mention of Sudogda in the chronicles dates back to 1529. In 1552, Tsar Ivan the Terrible passed through Sudogda and Murom to Kazan, and then returned with his warriors in victory. It was in Sudogda that the tsar received news from a harbinger about the birth of his first child from his wife Anastasia.

At the beginning of the 17th century, there was a settlement here, which was the estate of nobleman Ivan Gryazev. At that time, the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was built in the settlement of Sudogda. In 1634, deacon Ivan Gryazev died, and the granted patrimony passed to his wife, and from her into the possession of the Moscow Simonov Monastery.

In 1778, by decree of Catherine II, Sudogda became a chief town of a district in the Vladimir province. From time immemorial, the path to the eastern lands was here. Even the legend itself about how Sudogda became a city is connected with this road. The legend states that Catherine II almost died here. Traveling across Russia, she found herself in the floodplain of Sudogda, where her carriage got stuck so much so that it was getting deeper and deeper until it was finally rescued. The Empress was very frightened by what had happened and, in memory of the rescue, ordered to build a cathedral here at the state's expense, and also ordered to establish Sudogda Sloboda and gave the residents a number of privileges.

By 1788, a master plan for the development of the city was designed; in 1814, the largest temple in Sudogda, Catherine’s Cathedral, was consecrated. In 1806 and 1838, the city was severely damaged by fires. The construction of the government building and the Alexander Nevsky Church dates back to 1870.

In 1879, the city's first flax spinning factory was put into operation and in 1897, a bottle factory, which further became the city's largest enterprise, the Krasny Khimik fiberglass plant (later, Sudogda Fiberglass whose territory currently houses several enterprises). After the abolition of serfdom in 1861, a lot of people began to engage in seasonal work outside the city.
Today, Sudogda is the administrative, industrial and cultural centre of the Sudogda district of the Vladimir region.