Usėnai was first mentioned in written sources in 1722. Usėnai is located south-east of Šilutė, near the Klaipėda-Pagėgiai railway. The Veižas, the right tributary of the Nemunas, flows through the village. In 1874, the railway line Pagėgiai-Šilutė was built through Usėnai and a railway station was built. In 1905, the village had 71 inhabitants: 65 Germans, 6 Lithuanians. Usėnai was called Mädewald. After the restoration of Lithuania in 1918, Usėnai was home to the Pienocentras dairy, several shops and an agricultural machinery repair company.
A memorial stone was erected in Usėnai to honor soldiers who perished between 1941 and 1945. In 1976, a folk sculpture ensemble was created by folk artists from the Žemaitija region during a creative seminar. The ensemble consists of 12 oak sculptures inspired by the motifs of traditional Pamarys wooden grave markers – krikštai – and carved distaffs.
In 2005, a stogastulpis (wooden pillar shrine) was erected to commemorate the 220th anniversary of the Usėnai settlement.