During the Edo period, it was part of Uda District, which was divided into 51 villages, nine of which (including the coast) was part of the holdings of Sendai Domain, and the remaining 42 of which were ruled by Sōma Domain, ruled by the Sōma clan under the Tokugawa shogunate until the Meiji restoration.

On April 1, 1889, the village of Shinchi was created within Uda District, Fukushima with the establishment of the modern municipalities system.

The tsunami destroyed 577 houses, or approximately half the homes in the town, and the final death toll was 116 residents.

Shinchi has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 12 members.

In terms of national politics, the city is part of Fukushima 1st district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.