Some of the earliest settlers were Caspar Statler, Jacob Moses, Daniel Gibler, Christian Brollier, and George Lambert.

[3] The main Borough of Shade Township is Central City, which was first settled in 1848 and was incorporated on May 6, 1918.

Hooversville, which sits astride the border of Shade and Quemahoning Townships, was first settled in 1836 and was incorporated in 1896.

In the central part of Shade Township is a mining town laid out in 1912 by the Lolayhanna Coal and Coke Company on the Jacob McGregor Farm.

The Graef Lutheran Church and parsonage were erected here in 1917–18 at the corner of McGregor Avenue and Third Street.

Dorfman and Hoffman established a clothing factory here in 1955, which employs approximately 185 workers at the present time.

Reitz #3 and #4 are small mining towns southeast of Central City, along Dark Shade Creek.

Wilbur is a small mining town in the western part of the township, one-half mile off Route 403.

The town was founded by the Wilbur Coal Mining Company in 1912 on lands formerly owned by Daniel Peterman and J. E. Johnson.

Rockingham is a small mining village along Dark Shade Creek on State Route 160.

George Lambert from 1805 to 1808 held a warrant for a tract land called "furnace seat".

It was then operated by various owners; Mark Richards and Benjamin Jones 1819 to 1846, forge constructed, Henry Little for 6 months in 1846, John and William Shyrock 1846–47, Robert Bingham, William Shyrock and Andrew Royer 1847 to 1850, Daniel Weyand 1850 to 1880.

The heirs of Daniel Weyland estate owned the property from 1880 to 1975, when the furnace property and 350 acres surrounding it were obtained by the Historical and Genealogical Society of Somerset County, who are attempting preservation and minor archaeological work in the area.

The Shade Furnace Archaeological District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.