[3] Acadian families arrived from Nova Scotia in 1728 and settled on the west shore of Malpeque Bay, north of present-day Miscouche, naming their settlement "Malpèque" after the Mi'kmaq name.

[6] In his 1764 survey of the colony, British surveyor Samuel Holland assigned an area on the east shore of the bay as Crown land.

[3][7] Princetown's harbour proved unfavourable for large ships, and saw only limited rural development due to being surrounded by Crown land, thus the townsite failed to develop, and the Acadian name remained well known for the area.

[8] A more favourable sheltered harbour was located on the south side of the island, which later became Summerside.

Princetown was officially incorporated as a town in 1901, but its status was downgraded to settlement in 1925.