In 1878, Hippolyte Renard bought 382 hectares of land on the coast of the English Channel in an area of dunes called la Garenne (the warren) located in the municipality of Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont.
A gravel road was then created from the hamlet of Moncheaux to the beach, enabling the first villas to be built almost on the water's edge in the fledgling resort which was initially known as Saint-Quentin-Plage.
In 1893 the Société Immobilière de Saint-Quentin-Plage was founded by Felix Martin to further develop the resort.
Between 1898 and 1901 the Hotel Bellevue was built, enabling the bathers to stay for the season and a narrow gauge railway was built from the station of Quend/Fort-Mahon to the station of St-Quentin-Plage resort.
An administrative reshuffle in 1899 of the municipalities, Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont and Quend-le-Jeune meant that Saint-Quentin-Plage was now located in the municipality of Quend, hence its name change to "Quend-Plage".
In 1900 the Société went into liquidation and the land was acquired by Adéodat Vasseur. His two sons continued to develop the resort, with Marcel organising the urbanisation of the town and René concentrating on the afforestation of the dunes with Corsican pines, poplars and marram grass. It was the addition of these pines that lead to a further name change to Quend-Plage-les-Pins.
The seafront was largely rebuilt after the Second World War, following the destruction of many houses by the occupying Germans.
Quend-Plage-les-Pins is not a commune but since the early sixties, the resort bears the crest, which shows a sailboat (representing nautical activities) and a tree (representing the numerous pines that were planted to stabilize the dunes).
It was first used by the campsite, then appearing on all the postcards, badges and stickers, to the point that many have confused it with a coat of arms. It is sometimes used together with the motto Par les flots, par les pins (By the waves, by the pines).