Shenandoah was incorporated as a Borough on January 16, 1866, having been laid out by Peter Schaeffer of Pottsville in 1862. The first known resident was a man named Peter Kehley who cleared a patch of land at the center of the valley and built a log cabin there, sometime around 1830. Peter Kehley maintained his farm for about 20 years in total isolation.

With the discovery and commercial mining of anthracite coal in the Southern coal fields from the early 1830's, land speculators began to send surveyors into the northern regions, that is, north of Broad Mountain in search of possible coal lands. By 1850, Peter Kehley had sold his land to the Philadelphia Land Company and several investors sent agents into the area to hold the land and protect their investment. The tremendous need for coal at the outbreak of the civil war fueled the necessity of finding and operating new coal deposits north of Broad Mountain. Thus, in 1862, the first colliery in Shenandoah was opened. This was Shenandoah City Colliery.

Shenandoah grew rapidly with the influx of skilled miners and laborers to work the surrounding coal fields. Situated in the Middle Western coal field, Shenandoah had the richest deposit of Anthracite of all the known fields. The Mammoth vein, the largest known anthracite coal vein, runs directly under the town. Coal brought thousands of immigrants to Shenandoah. First came the English mine owners and bosses, then the Welsh skilled miners. These were quickly followed by the Germans and the Irish. By the early 1870's, the Irish were the predominant immigrants to come to Shenandoah. Beginning in the late1870's, immigration into Shenandoah shifted from the Western European countries to the Eastern European countries, primarily Lithuania, Poland , the Ukraine and Slovakia. As each new wave of immigrants arrived in Shenandoah, they set about to establish their own church with services in their native language and eventually to establish parochial schools where their children could be taught both English and their own language and customs. In the 1930's Shenandoah boasted 22 nationalities, 22 churches and a large synagogue.

.. Years of lost jobs, out migration and a sense of defeat have plagued the town. Today, Shenandoah is on the rebound and things are starting to turn the corner on economic development. People are returning to the region, some in retirement and many just seeking a good place to raise their families. Houses are being restored, new businesses are opening and Shenandoah is fast becoming the Ethnic Food Capital of Pennsylvania, with Mrs. T's Pierogies, Lee's Oriental Foods, Kowalonek , Lucky's and Capitol's Kiebasy and all the church festivals with their ethnic dishes.

The Shenandoah Borough Council, the Greater Shenandoah Area Historical Society and a newly organized Downtown Revitalization Group have all joined to implement programs that will return Shenandoah to its position as the best town in northern Schuylkill County.