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History · Hazardville

Hazardville’s post office opened in 1851, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and old-book passages.

1851first post office
1on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hazardville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hazardville began

When was Hazardville founded?

1851

The Hazardville post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 6,870175 years
Founding year: the first Hazardville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hazardville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 18927 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1984. Watch Hazardville change.A town in postcards18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1869–1917.Old housesHalf of Hazardville’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · On the map

Hazardville on the map, 1892 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hazardville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Hazardville on the 1892 USGS mapHazardville on the 1928 USGS mapHazardville on the 1944 USGS mapHazardville on the 1953 USGS mapHazardville on the 1964 USGS mapHazardville on the 1972 USGS mapHazardville on the 1984 USGS map1892Hartford sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hazardville.

By decade

Hazardville, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s–1900s6 items
Atlas of Hartford and Tolland counties - with a map of Connecticut, from actual surveys1869Atlas of Hartford and Tolland counties - with a map o…MapAtlas of Hartford and Tolland counties - with a map of Connecticut, from actual surveys1869Atlas of Hartford and Tolland counties - with a map o…Map1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Connecticut (CT) - Hartford County - Enfield - ED 2-104 to 12018801950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Connecticut (…December 1904 Scitico streetcar wreck - postcard1904December 1904 Scitico streetcar wreck - postcardPostcardHazardvilleCTMainStEastviewCA1906c. 1906HazardvilleCTMainStEastviewCA1906PostcardPostcardHazardvilleCTPowderMillWreckageCA1906c. 1906PostcardHazardvilleCTPowderMillWreckageCA1906Postcard
1910s12 items
PostcardEnfieldCTHazardvilleSchoolSt19101910PostcardEnfieldCTHazardvilleSchoolSt1910PostcardPostcardHazardvilleCTPowderHollowCA1910c. 1910PostcardHazardvilleCTPowderHollowCA1910PostcardScitico station 1910 postcardc. 1910Scitico station 1910 postcardPostcardInterior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm. Girls in foreground are 8, 9, and 10 years old. The 10 yr. old makes 50 cents …1917Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm. Girls in for…Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm. Girls in foreground are 8, 9, and 10 years old. The 10 yr. old makes 50 cents …1917Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm. Girls in for…Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm1917Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm3 "leaf-boys" 9 and 9 and 11 years old, Cybalski Tobacco Farm. Location: Hazardville, Connecticut19173 "leaf-boys" 9 and 9 and 11 years old, Cybalski Toba…Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm. Girls in foreground are 8, 9, and 10 years old. The 10 yr. old makes 50 cents …1917Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm. Girls in for…Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm. Girls in foreground are 8, 9, and 10 years old. The 10 yr. old makes 50 cents …1917Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm. Girls in for…Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm. Girls in foreground are 8, 9, and 10 years old. The 10 yr. old makes 50 cents …1917Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm. Girls in for…Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm. Girls in foreground are 8, 9, and 10 years old. The 10 yr. old makes 50 cents …1917Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm. Girls in for…Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm. Girls in foreground are 8, 9, and 10 years old. The 10 yr. old makes 50 cents …1917Interior of tobacco shed, Hawthorn Farm. Girls in for…
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today6 recent
CT Route 190 westbound2024CT Route 190 westboundGun Powder Kegs2022Gun Powder KegsWaeves laying down2019Waeves laying downTown Hall2013Town HallPowder flask - Framingham History Center - DSC004162011Powder flask - Framingham History Center - DSC00416View of2008View of
The story

How Hazardville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hazardville.

Read it all →

Hazardville originated as an industrial village centered around the manufacture of gunpowder using water power from the Scantic River. The first small black powder mill was established in 1835 by Allen Loomis in an area then known as Powder Hollow. This became the Hazard Powder Company.

Hazardville takes its name from Colonel Augustus George Hazard.

ChaptersHistoric district

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Hazardville in 1886

Passages that mention Hazardville, cut from the printed page as they were published.

church in the town. But as the population increased, churches of other denominations sprang up. About 1835 a Methodist Episcopal Church was formed, and a house of worship erected in what is now the village of Hazardville. At the time of its organization the church drew its few supporters from the d…
The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-18841886 · page 154Read the page →
Read the text

church in the town. But as the population increased, churches of other denominations sprang up. About 1835 a Methodist Episcopal Church was formed, and a house of worship erected in what is now the village of Hazardville. At the time of its organization the church drew its few supporters from the different parts of the town, as there were very few^ inhabitants in its vicinity. The growth of the village has added strength to the church, so that it has become prosperous and active.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Hazardville, 1869 to 1910

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869In the archiveAtlas of Hartford and Tolland counties - with a map of Connecticut, from actual surveys
  3. 1880In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Connecticut (CT) - Hartford County - Enfield - ED…
  4. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1903Born hereGeorge A. Taylor is born here
  7. 1904In the archiveDecember 1904 Scitico streetcar wreck - postcard
  8. 1910In the archivePostcardEnfieldCTHazardvilleSchoolSt1910
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Connecticut (CT) - Hartford County - Enfield - ED 2-104 to 120
Retake this view1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Connecticut (CT) - Hartford County - Enfield - ED 2-104 to 120, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hazardville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 160 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
160
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Help out

Finish Hazardville’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1950 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Sherwood ManorIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSouthwood AcresIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEnfield7 historic placesASomers2 historic placesA−

Questions about Hazardville’s history

What year was Hazardville founded?

The Hazardville post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the Library of Congress (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.