The town was created in 1968 by the unification of two neighbouring communes, Boldești and Scăeni. One village, Seciu, is administered by the town.

The phalanstère

Main article: Scăieni Phalanstery

Scăeni was the location of the only attempt to create a Charles Fourier-type phalanstère in Romania. In 1835, Theodor Diamant, a utopian socialist who had met Fourier in Paris, created the phalanstère, named The Agronomy and Manufacturing Society, on a patch of land provided by Emanoil Bălăceanu, a local land-owner. The Wallachian authorities saw this enterprise as a threat and took a stand against it. Therefore, the phalanstère was disbanded in 1836, a year and a half after it came into existence, with Diamant and Bălăceanu sent into exile.
World War II

During World War II, the area was extensively bombed, as part of Operation Tidal Wave. Air-raid shelters can still be found on the wooded hills around Boldești.
Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Boldești-Scăeni depicts a thistle (in Romanian, scai or scaiete) which refers to the name of the old Scăeni commune, as well as a grape, which represents the vineyards on the Seciu hills. The shaking hands is a reminder of the 19th century Scăieni phalanstère experiment, but could also refer to the 1968 union of the Boldești and Scăieni communes.