It is distinct from Shenandoah Heights, which is part of West Mahanoy Township immediately to the north.

Kehley cleared a patch of land at the center of the valley and built a log cabin and maintained his farm for about 20 years in total isolation.

[3] He sold his claim to the Philadelphia Land Company, which in anticipation of the opening of coal mines in the area, laid out the town in 1862.

[4] Booming growth occurred during the Civil War years caused by the development and opening of several anthracite coal mines.

[citation needed] The area was incorporated as a borough in 1866[4] and was a famous hotbed of activity during the era of the Molly Maguires in the 1870s.

[citation needed] During the Great Coal Strike of 1902 the Pennsylvania National Guard was called into Shenandoah to keep the peace and curb rioting by angry miners.

[citation needed] Shenandoah, the rise and fall of the coal industry, and the dismantling of the Molly Maguires was one of the subjects examined by George Leighton in his 1939 book Five Cities: The Story of Their Youth and Old Age.

One theory holds that Shenandoah received its name from an Indian word meaning 'sprucy stream' or 'river flowing alongside high hills and mountains'.

[citation needed] Another origin theory is that the town was named after the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

It has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb) and average monthly temperatures range from 25.0 °F in January to 69.5 °F in July.

[19] St. Casimir Roman Catholic Church is listed as one of the oldest Polish parishes in the United States.