The prehistoric coastline of the East China Sea was much farther inland, at Xinzhuang near Songjiang's current eastern border with Minhang District.

Traditional Chinese historiography only recorded these people as among the Baiyue—the "Numerous Southern Barbarians"—until the growth of the siniticized Wu Kingdom at Suzhou in the 1st millennium BC.

During the Spring and Autumn period at the end of the Zhou and under the Warring States, the area of present-day Songjiang passed from Wu to Yue to Chu before the unification of China under Shi Huangdi of Qin in the 3rd century BC.

Another boost came from the completion of the Grand Canal under the Sui, linking Songjiang with Hangzhou, Shaoxing, and Ningbo in the south and Suzhou, Luoyang, Xi'an, and Beijing in the north.

In the 1250s at the end of the Southern Song, the 10-year-old Songjiangese girl Huang Daopo fled her hometown and an arranged marriage to live with the Hlai on Hainan.

In 1404, headwaters previously emptying into the Wusong were rerouted by local officials, diminishing the size of Suzhou Creek and expanding the Huangpu River to its modern importance.

Following Dorgon's 21 July 1645 edict mandating the queue, the people of Songjiang rose up against the Qing to protect their hair, viewed as a symbol of virility and filial piety.

Despite Shanghai's greater importance by the beginning of the 20th century, its international settlement meant Songjiang was still used as the formal center of Chinese government for the region.

Under the Republic of China, the Zhili clique leader Sun Chuanfang's Songhu (淞滬市) or Songjiang Special Administrative District covered most of what is now Shanghai Municipality, extending as far north as Chongming Island.

Following the PRC's Opening Up Policy, Songjiang restored its more important religious buildings and developed into a college town hosting several large universities.

Birthplace: Heroes: Hou Shaoqiu, Jiang Huilin, Xia Yunyi, Chen Zilong, Xia Wanchun; Statesmen: Gu Yong, Lu Xun, Xu Jie; Litterateurs: Lu Ji, Lu Yun, Chen Jiru, Qian Fu, Gu Qing; Chinese Painting and Calligraphy (Songjiang was listed among "cities of Calligraphy" in 2013[13]) Artists: Shen Du, Dong Qichang, Zhang Nanheng, Zhang Zhao, Shi Zhecun, Cheng Shifa; Craftsmen: Zhu Kerou, Huang Daopo, Ding Niangzi; Experts: Tao Zongyi, Zhu Shunshui, Chen Yongkang; Educators: He Dong, Ping Hailan, Ma Xiangru; Intelligent woman: Ye Gu.