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History · Hartly

Hartly was first counted by the census in 1920, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1930 on and the census since 1920.

1920first census
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Dough4872 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Hartly began

When was Hartly founded?

1920

Hartly first appears in the census in 1920. Three smaller post offices, Arthursville (1858), Davisville (1861) and Slaughter (1870), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 905 in 19202020 census: 73106 years
Founding year: the first census.

What stands out about Hartly’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Hartly are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Hartly.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hartly’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hartly’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Arthursville
1858–1861
Davisville
1861–1863
Slaughter
1870–1902
Hairtley
1882–today
18501940today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Hartly, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hartly yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Hartly is a town in Kent County, Delaware, United States. It is part of the Dover metropolitan area. The population was 73 in 2020, making it the least populous municipality in Delaware.

Its first post office opened in 1920. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 74 in 2010, 73 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Hartly, 1858 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Arthursville post office opens
  3. 1861Post officeThe Arthursville post office closes
  4. 1861Post officeThe Davisville post office opens
  5. 1863Post officeThe Davisville post office closes
  6. 1870Post officeThe Slaughter post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1902Post officeThe Slaughter post office closes
  9. 1930On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Hartly on the map, 1930 to 1993

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

Hartly on the 1930 USGS mapHartly on the 1955 USGS mapHartly on the 1993 USGS map1930Wyoming 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 Hartly.

People over time

Hartly, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 905

Between 73 and 905 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hartly’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Hartly’s history

What year was Hartly founded?

The Hartly post office opened in 1920, 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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.