A prehistoric camp dating to the Upper Palaeolithic was discovered near Novoarkhanhelsk. Traces of a historic settlement dating to the 14th–15th century have also been found, including a large amount of iron tools and fragments related to blacksmithing.
Russian Empire
The Treaty of the Pruth defined the border between Zaporizhia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as following the rivers Synyukha, Velyka Vys and Tyasmyn. The area now occupied by Novoarkhanhelsk was therefore situated on the southwestern frontier of the Tsardom of Russia. Following the Austro-Russian–Turkish War, the Russian government began to restore settlements destroyed by Tatar raids along the Polish border. The Governor of Kyiv ordered Colonel Kapnist of the Myrhorod Regiment to fortify the left bank of the Synyukha, opposite the Polish town of, against Polish raids. The regiment constructed a pentagonal fortification with earthen ramparts inside a bend of the river, adding bastions to each corner. The new settlement, named Arkhanhelohorod, was initially garrisoned by cossacks and runaway peasants. In 1742, Kapnist, with the consent of, the count of, dispatched а cossack known as David of Zvenigorod to Podolia to bring back twenty Ukrainian families to settle the town. In the 18th century, the Ukrainian anti-feudal movement found support in the region. In a complaint received by the Governor of Kyiv in 1747, a Polish nobleman accused an officer at Arkhanhelohorod by the name of J. Chechel of harbouring haidamaka . In 1748, another complained that residents of Arkhanhelohorod were amongst those who attacked the house of a szlachta near Vinnytsia. In 1752, Arkhanhelohorod became part of New Serbia, when the Russian authorities invited Serbians from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to settle the frontier region. The garrison alternated between the 7th Company of the New Serbian Hussar regiment and the Novoslobodskaya Cossack Regiment. In March 1764, it became the headquarters of seven companies of the newly formed Black Hussars. At this point the settlement, now known as Novoarkhanhelsk, was home to civilians engaged in farming, beekeeping, fishing, trading and craftsmanship, in addition to the military garrison. Its inhabitants included Old Believer and Jewish immigrants from Poland and Moldova. In 1774, Johann Anton Güldenstädt undertook a documentary expedition to Ukraine on behalf of the Russian government. He described Novoarkhanhelsk as a commercial centre. From 1765 the town hosted three annual fairs. In 1784 it became part of the county of Novomyrhorod, then from 1807 part of Olviopol county, Kherson Oblast. By 1772, the fort had a church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. As a military settlement, Novoarkhanhelsk was the headquarters of the 2nd Ukrainian Lancers and later the 6th District of Novorossiya. In 1876 it was reported to contain 60 households. By 1886, it was the centre of Novoarkhanhelsk parish, Yelisavetgrad county. It had a population of 2,512 and had 696 farm yards, an Orthodox church, a school, 19 shops and two taverns. Markets were held every second Sunday.
From 1921 Novoarkhanhelsk has been the administrative centre of Novoarkhanhelsk Raion, and in 1957 it was given the status of urban-type settlement. In 1927, a small power plant was built on the Synyukha. The town's first collective farm was established in 1929, and the first machine and tractor station was opened. In January 1932 the first issue of the district newspaper, Під прапором перемоги, was published. Novoarkhanhelsk played an important role in the Battle of Uman as part of the Soviet forces' supply line. German troops of the Wehrmacht16th Motorized Infantry Division occupied the town on 30 July 1941. The fighting was fierce, and the town repeatedly passed between the German and Soviet forces over the course of several days. It ended on 2 August, when the bridge connecting Novoarkhanhelsk to Torhovytsya was destroyed. After the battle, Novoarkhanhelsk was occupied as part of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine and a prisoner of war camp was set up there. The occupation ended on 12 March 1944, when the 110th Guards Rifle Division of the 53rd Army, 2nd Ukrainian Front, under the command of Colonel D. P. Sobolev, recaptured Novoarkhanhelsk.
