Before the Europeans came, the area that was to become Rumford was inhabited by bands of St. Francis Indians, who hunted and fished, where salmon spawn in the 13-acre pool below Upper Falls. Indians also came here to trade furs brought from the lakes region
Originally named New Pennacook Plantation, the township was granted in 1779 to Timothy Walker, Jr. from Concord, New Hampshire. Both Pennacook and Rumford are former names of Concord, the hometown of many of its early settlers. However, the first pioneers to the area were Jonathan Keyes and his son, Francis, who came from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts in 1782. Incorporated as Rumford on February 21, 1800, the town later annexed land from Peru and from Franklin Plantation.
Rumford, Maine is located in the foothills of the White Mountains, where the Pennacook Falls drops 177 feet over solid granite. Sawmills and gristmills were built to harness water power from the falls, although Rumford was primarily agricultural for its first century.
In 1882, Hugh Chisholm recognized the usefulness of the falls for manufacturing paper. The first paper mill began operations in 1893, and Oxford Paper Company, owned by Chisholm, dominated Rumford's riverfront and its economy for many years. The water power from the falls has driven paper mills in Rumford for decades.
Much of the town was constructed during a spurt of prosperity at the turn of the century, and Rumford still boasts many examples of significant Victorian and Edwardian architecture.