Arendtsville's earliest history was tied to Native American tribes who hunted its rich forestlands, and artifacts and arrowheads can still be found along local streams. During the French and Indian War in the 1700s, settlers encroaching on Indian lands banded together for protection from Indian attacks, helping lead to the founding of the village. In 1758, a party of Indians and Frenchmen attacked the nearby Jemison family homestead; Mary Jemison, fifteen when her family was captured and killed, was adopted by a Seneca family and chose to spend the rest of her life as a Seneca. A statue dedicated to Mary, "The White Squaw," stands on the grounds of St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Buchanan Valley. In the 1800s, farming and lumber production were the principal activities around Arendtsville, and many steam-powered gristmills and sawmills were established along Conewago Creek near the village, with some of those mill structures still surviving. Surrounded by fruit orchards, Arendtsville has long supported South Mountain's commercial fruit industry. The South Mountain Fair Grounds, a mile west, were established by two Arendtsville churches in 1922, when thriving agriculture and farm-related businesses led them to organize the first fair to showcase the area's products. The fair remains a popular community event highlighting local businesses and agriculture, and the fairgrounds also host the Apple Blossom Festival in May and the National Apple Harvest Festival in October.