ARUNDEL HISTORY

An Historic Agricultural Community

1719 – 1820……Arundel

1820 – 1915……Kennebunkport

1915 – 1957……North Kennebunkport

1957……Arundel

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A Brief History

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In the mid-1600s, Arundel’s first settlers kept close to the coastline both for easy access to the ocean and to escape from the local Native Americans.  Because of continued difficulties the settlers abandoned the settlement in the late 1600s.  They did not return until around 1720 when relations with the Native Americans had improved.

The new settlement, named Arundel, grew along the Kennebunk River and began to expand.  After about 1750 people began to settle west of what is now Route 1 and started farming the inlands of Arundel. 

Around 1800, as the religious climate changed, small churches and meeting houses served to draw the local people together. Although those small churches have disappeared, several of the early farms and a few of the farmhouses still exist today.  

When Arundel’s secession from Kennebunkport became official in 1916, it lost its direct connection with the coast and remained a rural town composed primarily of farms.

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