Under Ottoman rule, Shemlan and surrounding villages were controlled first by the Maan family and then by the Shihab dynasty.

[3] For more than a century, Shemlan consisted of five extended families: the Maronite Christian Jabbours, Hittis, Tabibs, and Farjallahs, plus the Druze Moukaddems, once lords and chief land-owners.

[4] Due to its strategic location overlooking Beirut International Airport and the diverse political make-up of the area, Shemlan became a fierce battleground during the 1958 civil war and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

In 1948, the British Government opened the Middle East Centre for Arab Studies (MECAS) in Shemlan.

Philip Khuri Hitti (1886–1978), a renowned Lebanese American author and professor on the Middle East, was Shemlan's most famous resident.