The hills surrounding Călinești-Oaș used to be inhabited by communities of hunter-gatherers since the stone Age. Paleolithic discoveries were made on the "Hurca Hill", "Saint Mary Hill", "Lichihorb" and "Bocoghița". Other important finds indicate that the commune was inhabited during the Neolithic Age and archaeological investigations were made between 1999 and 2001 that established the settlement as dating from the Early Neolithic Age (5500 - 5200 BC). The finds belong to the Starčevo culture representing the northern limit of the culture. On Hurca Hill a big fortified settlement was discovered dating from the 10th and the 9th centuries BC. The fortification consisted of an earthen mound and strengthened with large stone blocks. The fortification dates from the Early Iron Age and belonged to the Gáva culture. Călinești-Oaș is first mentioned in documents in 1490 as "Kalynhaza" when the area was incorporated into the domain of Medieșu Aurit, property of the Móric family, a wealthy Hungarian aristocratic family from Győr. Their influence lasted until the 15th century. Other owners of the domains that included Călinești were the Báthory Family of Hungary, Rákóczi, Károlyi (owned during the 18th century) and the Vécsey (owned during the 19th century). After World War I the commune suffered from the 1918 flu pandemic, also known as the Spanish Influenza, which killed 48 people. After the 1970 floods in Romania, which affected large parts of Călinești, the dam on the Tur River was built in 1972; this created a lake of . At the Romanian census conducted in 2011, the population of Călinești-Oaș commune was 4,686. Of these inhabitants, 99% are Romanian, 0.6% are Roma and 0.4% belong to other groups. 85.6% are Romanian Orthodox, 6.7% Greek-Catholic, 6.4% Pentecostal and 1.3% other or undeclared. The Călinești-Oaș Dam was built in 1972 on the Tur River near the confluence with the Valea Rea River between the Hurca and Jelejnic Hills.