Remains show us that people first lived in the woods in the Sandwell Valley 8,000 years ago, during the
Mesolithic or "Middle Stone Age". These Stone Age people were nomadic and lived by hunting wild animals, fishing and collecting food plants.  The flint tools which they made have been excavated  during archaeological excavations in the Sandwell Valley. The forests which covered most of the Borough were cleared in the Neolithic period (5,000 years ago) as agriculture was first introduced to the region. Some of the polished stone axes used by these first farmers have been found around the Borough.

Several structures dating to the Bronze Age have been found in Sandwell. They are "Burnt Mounds" and consist of heaps of heat-shattered stones and charcoal next to streams. They seem to have been the remains of cooking or bathing activities and one has been dated by radiocarbon dating to about 1100 BC.

No Roman settlements have been found yet, but fragments of pottery show that parts of the Sandwell Valley was farmed by the Romans. Place name evidence gives us clues to the Iron Age peoples, as the "bury" part of Wednesbury and Oldbury suggest that they were the sites of Iron Age hillforts. A lot of remains from the Medieval period survive in Sandwell. Villages or hamlets mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 include Wednesbury, West Bromwich, Oldbury, and Rowley Regis. The West Bromwich Manor House and  the excavated remains of the Sandwell Priory, which are on display for visitors, are dated to the 12th Century.

The medieval industries in Sandwell made use of the natural mineral resources long before the Industrial Revolution. Coal and iron were mined in Wednesbury and Cradley Heath, and clay was used for the pottery industry in Wednesbury from at least the 15th Century. A pottery kiln dating to the 17th Century has been excavated in the Market Place, Wednesbury. Timber framed houses from the 17th Century survive, such as Oak House, West Bromwich, and Lower Portway Farm.

Industrial activities increased rapidly from the mid 18th Century and the combination of natural resources such as iron ore, with the establishment of reliable transportation provided by the canal system, launched Sandwell into the forefront of the Industrial Revolution. The first canals were built by James Brindley in 1769 to 1772 between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, and Sandwell was soon at the heart of the canal network. The years 1750 to 1850 saw a hive of industrial activity, with coal mines, iron works and furnaces around the Borough. Innovators and entrepreneurs established major new industries in the Borough such as Kenrick's, Izons and Salters in cast iron manufacture in West Bromwich, Boulton and Watt making steam engines at Soho Foundry in Smethwick, and Chance's glassworks, Smethwick.The railways started to      replace the canal network from the 1850's, and as raw materials became exhausted, they were replaced by the secondary engineering and fabricating industries.

Most of Sandwell is now built up and dates to the 19th Century and Victorian periods. Some historic
buildings have been reconstructed for visitors and these include the 18th Century Sandwell Park Farm, the former model farm of the Earl of Dartmouth, and Bishop Asbury's Cottage, home of the famous Methodist preacher.