Around 1735 a long street, "eight rods in width," was laid in a north and south direction in the NW part of Athol, a little east of the top of West Pequoiag hill. On either side of this street small lots, called home lots, were laid out in regular form. Many of the lots were quickly occupied by settlers. The little community formed, and soon attracted other settlers to adjacent parts of Warwick and Royalston.
However, this compact settlement was located so far from the center of the nearest towns as to make it inconvenient for the people to gather with their fellow townspeople for religious services and town meetings. Between 1769 and 1780, the Ruggles Grant and the east end of Erving's Grant filled with settlers. This population increase led the community to decide to become a town.
On October 15, 1783, the area that included the NW part of Athol, the SE part of Royalston, the SE part of Warwick, the East part of a grant to John Erving, the Ruggles Grant and the Hasting farm, were all incorporated as the District of Orange. Almost 30 years later, on February 24, 1810, the Town of Orange was incorporated. The town was named after William, Prince of Orange.
Many of the early settlers could trace their family history to the first settlers in the vicinity of Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. These earliest residents first settled in what is now North Orange, which remains a scenic village.
From 1780 to 1840, Orange was primarily a farming town, of many large farmsteads. Its growth increased substantially with the arrival of the railroad in 1846. Various industries eventually sprouted along the banks of the Millers River, including the New Home Sewing Machine Company, which, at its peak in 1892, produced 1.2 million sewing machines.
By 1879, the town had a population of about 2,000 people, many employed in industry. Orange was also the home of the pioneer automobile company Grout and its automobile factory, the first in the United States. It's headquarters building was built in 1900, what is now the home of Pete's Tire Barn on East Main Street.
In 1903, St. Mary's Church was established in Orange, and a wooden church building eventually built on North Main Street.
In 1954, the construction of a new St. Mary's was completed, on the corner of Congress St and Cheney St.