Once the first post office from Paris, the history of the town of Saclay goes back to the 12th century.
"Around 1100, Louis VI pacified this region of the Hurepoix, prey to incessant feudal struggles and united it to the royal domain. Saclay was then part of the County of Montlhéry and belonged to the Provost of Châteaufort.
In the 16th century, Saclay was divided into a multitude of secular seigneuries which were gradually supplanted by ecclesiastics (Celestins of Marcoussis, Abbots of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the congregation of the priests of the mission named by Saint Vincent de Paul) and a Parisian bourgeoisie eager to acquire landed property.
In 1684, Louis XIV had the pond landscaped to feed the gutters leading the water to the Palace of Versailles.
Contrary to other communes in the canton, the village of Saclay (Bourg) and the village of Villeras (Val d'Albian) developed in the 18th century. Few changes occurred until 1808: small houses and large farms centered around the church. Installed between 1948 and 1950, the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique (CEA) and the DGA Essais Propulseurs (DGA) occupied a part of the plateau that was once entirely cultivated". From the Saclay.fr website
