Vaals was first mentioned in 1041, but the fertile area was inhabited much earlier than that. After the fall of the Franconian empire Vaals successively belonged to the duchy of Limburg, the diocese of Liège and the duchy of Brabant, the latter of which itself was absorbed by Burgundy and the Spanish empire. In 1662 Vaals became property of the Republic of the United Netherlands. Cooperation with the cloth industry in the nearby German city of Aachen started a period of economic prosperity. In ca. 1760 many protestants from that city fled to Vaals when the political climate for them in Aachen worsened, including several cloth-manufacturers. With the coming of the French in 1795 many manufacturers returned to Aachen. In 1815 Vaals became part of the new Kingdom of the Netherlands. The unfavourable location of Vaals near the German border resulted in the end of the cloth-industry. From 1830 until 1839 the town was part of Belgium, after which it returned to the Netherlands. Other places belonging to the Vaals municipality are Lemiers, Vijlen and Holset.
The reformed church dates from 1672, although the tower is much older, dating from the 13th century. This tower was part of a church that under the rule of the Republic was used by both catholics and protestants. The increasing number of protestants urged the community to build a church of their own square on the old one. The catholics themselves replaced the old church in 1752. The last catholic church on this location was demolished in 1967, long after the catholics had built a new church elsewhere in the town.
The former Lutheran church dates from 1736 and was built for refugees from Aachen. It's an octagonal building with two storeys. It was designed by either an architect Von Littich or by Johann Josef Couven.
The Roman Catholic church H. Paulus Bekering was built in 1892-1893 and was designed by J. Kayser in a neo-Gothic style that incorporated elements of Gothicism in northern Germany. A typical feature are the glazed bricks.
A bit outside the village in the 18th century farm De Esch was built. In 1897 it became a monastery of the Camilian order, for which this neo-Romanesque chapel was built in 1908. The architect was J. Jorna.