Petten belonged to the nobility of Petten en Nolmerban, and then became a municipality. In 1929, the municipality of Petten was incorporated into the municipality of Zijpe. Last one merged with Harenkarspel and Schagen into the new municipality of Schagen in 2013. During the Second World War, the entire town of Petten was broken up in 1943 by order of the German Wehrmacht because of the construction of the Atlantic Wall. The church of Petten was demolished in 1944. After the war, a whole new town was built from 1946, designed by the architects Van de Ban and De Vassy. In 1955, the foundation "Reactor Centrum Nederland" (RCN) was set up, that went on to build a research-reactor (Petten nuclear reactor) that currently supplies 60% of European demand for medical radioisotopes. Since 1976, the foundation is called the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN).