The name of this village had several spellings in the past: Scedelike, Sceleke, Scadelik, Schadelick, Schalicke, Schalecke, Schalcke.

The first documented bearer of this name was a nobleman in 1246: Henricus miles de Schadeleke (Heinrich von Schalke).

The noble family was mentioned in documents from Essen Abbey, but the male line died out in the 17th century.

From 1848 onwards, several exploratory drillings were carried out in the Schalker Mark, which suggested that there were rich deposits of hard coal in the area around Schalke and the neighbouring farming communities.

Before the First World War, Schalke was one of the towns characterized by immigration from Masuria, which gave it the nickname "Little Ortelsburg".