Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1970 on and old-book passages.
The Hartland post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hartland’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hartland yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Hartland is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. It was named a CDP before the 2020 census, at which time it had a population of 157.
Its first post office opened in 1839.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Hartland, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Hartland is about equally adapted to grain or stock. It contains neither post office nor tavern. MARENGO, TOWNSHIP 44, RANGE 5.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
POST OFFICE For some years after Hartland Township was settled the people had to go to McClure's Grove, a distance of twenty-five miles, for mail. Later they received their mail at Crystal Lake, and finally a post office was established at the residence of Alvin Judd, about the center of the township. Eden post office was established in the eastern part of the township, with Henry Oliver as its first postmaster, and Peter McFarland was its second. At Deep Cut a post office was established in 1855,
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hartland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hartland.
Nobody well known was born in Hartland itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Hartland post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.
