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History · Hartville

Hartville’s post office opened in 1842, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Kelton House. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1880.

1842first post office
1on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Hartville began

When was Hartville founded?

1842

The Hartville post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 248 in 18802020 census: 594184 years
Founding year: the first Hartville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hartville’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 Hartville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1842: 184 years of Hartville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hartville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hartville’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
Timeline

Hartville, 1842 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1842Post officeThe Hartville post office opens
  3. 1876Born hereWalter Mitchell is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1912Born hereJack Curtis is born here
  6. 1931Born hereDonald Dedmon is born here
  7. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Hartville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hartville.

Read it all →

A post office called Hartville has been in operation since 1842. The community was settled in the early 19th century, and bears the name of Isaac Hart, a pioneer citizen.

Much of the town was destroyed during the Battle of Hartville in 1863. Lt. Col. John Wimer of the Confederacy, who had served two nonconsecutive terms as mayor of St. Louis, was killed in the battle and was buried at Hartville.

The Grovespring Tornado in 1959 destroyed most of Hartville's business district, including the post office. No major injuries occurred, since a warning alarm had given the citizens time to take cover.

Kelton House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Hartville, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Hartville-Rolla-St-mo2021Hartville-Rolla-St-moHartville-Main-St-mo2021Hartville-Main-St-moHartville-City-Hall-mo2021Hartville-City-Hall-moWright County MO Courthouse 20151022-1632015Wright County MO Courthouse 20151022-163
On the map

Hartville on the map in 1954

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hartville.

Hartville on the 1954 USGS map1954Springfield sheet · 1:250,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Hartville

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Kelton House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1
All 1 listings
Kelton HouseBuilding · listed 1983

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

People over time

Hartville, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 613

Between 248 and 613 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Hartville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
J
Jack CurtisAmerican politician in Missouri · b. 1912
D
Donald DedmonAmerican academic administrator · b. 1931
Walter MitchellEpiscopal Bishop of Arizona · b. 1876

Questions about Hartville’s history

What year was Hartville founded?

The Hartville post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Hartville?

One place: the Kelton House (listed 1983).

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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.