By Renee Worthing 

Staff Writer 

The newly formed Arundel Historical Society already has two orders of business.

Arundel Selectman Dana Peck, who serves on the historical society, said the society would like to find a permanent home to meet and display memorabilia and create a veterans’ memorial.

The group of eight society members, which began meeting in January, currently meets in the Arundel Fire Department building.

He said the board of selectman received an unsigned letter citing concerns that Arundel does little to observe Memorial Day, Fourth of July or other patriotic holidays.

“One of the reasons is because we [historical society] don’t have a home or a park,” Peck said.

Arundel, once a part of Kennebunkport, has no formal town center or park. 

He said the Arundel Historical Society is in possession of many photos and documents of Arundel’s early days, but without a building, the items cannot be displayed. 

“We decided to look for a building,” Peck said.

He said it was unclear whether the society would construct a building or move into an existing building.

“Either way is fine, but we need to find a permanent home for the reference material,” he said. 

The society currently has $300 in funds, but it is planning to launch a capital campaign to raise money for the building, Peck said. 

In addition to finding a permanent home, the society is soliciting ideas from residents for a veterans’ memorial.

He said the proposed memorial would be a tribute to those who participated in all the wars, from the Revolutionary War to the Vietnam War.

“It won’t be just those who died, but those who participated in all the branches of the military,” Peck said. “We want to celebrate those who did the right thing, those who enlisted.”

He said the society does not have any preconceived idea of what the memorial should look like.

“It could be a slab of granite or something more elaborate,” he said. “We want it to belong to the people.”

However, the requests have not generated any responses.

Peck said he is in the process of compiling a list of names of Arundel residents who served in previous wars, but he is “having a hard time” getting information from the federal government.

“They won’t disclose the names of people from the community who served,” he said, adding he was only able to get the names of those who served in the Vietnam War.

He was repeatedly referred to Department of Defense Web sites and has also enlisted the help of Rep. Tom Allen who also had little success, Peck said.

While the society is still in the process of organizing, it will accept pledges for donations, but not money.

He said the society would operate as a separate corporation and not fall under town governance. 

Peck said the organization of an historical society has been attempted “several times,” but the effort lacked momentum.

“There is a lot of history here in Arundel,” he said. “And it changed names several times.”

Originally, the town was a fishing community, known as Cape Porpoise from 1653 to 1719. It took on the name of Arundel from 1719 to 1821 and then became Kennebunkport from 1821 to 1915. The town was then called North Kennebunkport until 1957 when the town voted to be called Arundel again.

Because of its close ties with Kennebunkport, many of Arundel’s historical documents are housed in Kennebunkport.

Peck, also a member of the Kennebunkport Historical Society, said he would have access to the many documents, records and photos from early Arundel and Kennebunkport – “a treasure trove of information.” 

“It’s a good nucleus of people,” Peck said. “We welcome new members with energy, enthusiasm and good resources.”

Peck’s interest in local history hinges on the fact that he is the 11th generation born in Arundel.

He estimated there are about six families whose roots can be traced back to the Arundel’s first settlers and he hopes those families become involved with Arundel Historical Society.

The group currently meets at the Arundel Fire Station at 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month.

“There is a lot of work to do,” Peck said.

For more information call Arundel Town Hall, Dana Peck at 985-4210.