5 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 151 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1820.
The Hartwick post office opened in 1804, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Hartwick Seminary (1828), South Hartwick (1850) and Toddsville (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,579 in 18202020 census: 1,952222 years
How historic is Hartwick?
A+
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Hartwick post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hartwick’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hartwick is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hartwick’s overall grade.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Hartwick’s 723 sits above most of its state (94% of New York towns have fewer) while its 155 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Hartwick’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Hartwick’s post office has been open since 1804. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hartwick
1804–today
Hartwick Seminary
1828–1993
South Hartwick
1850–1942
Toddsville
1850–1918
Chase
1890–1910
Index
1902–1915
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ChaseClintonvilleField CrossingHartwick Heights Mobile Home ParkHartwick SeminaryHyde ParkIndexJones CrossingPaige Mobile Home ParkPerkins CrossingScotch HillSouth HartwickSummit CrossingToddsville
Gone or out of use
Potter SchoolschoolSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 12schoolSchool Number 14schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 8schoolWhitehouse Schoolschool
The town was named for Lutheran minister John Christopher Hartwick (1714–1796), an early landowner of the town. He bought the area (the Hartwick Patent, granted 1761) that now constitutes the township from the Mohawk Indians in 1763. Discontented with the sparsely settled communities of Palatine Germans in the Mohawk Valley to the north, which Hartwick believed made people immoral, he bought the original Hartwick Patent with the intent to build a "New Jerusalem". Hartwick tried to control development, stipulating that residents look to him as their religious superior. By the 1790s the shrewd land speculator William Cooper had sold most of Hartwick's land against his wishes.
Passages that mention Hartwick, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Otsego County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1878 · page 13Read the page →
Read the text
The territory embraced within the present boundaries of the town of Hartwick was granted to John Christopher Hartwick, April 22, 1761, and settlements were soon after commenced.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Memorial volume to commemorate the semi-centennial anniversary of the Hartwick Lutheran synod, of the state of New York1881Read the page →
Read the text
to purchase land." In 1754 he made another purchase from the Indians of a tract of land supposed to contain 24,000 acres, and comprising chiefly the present town of Hartwick, Otsego county, N. Y. For this grant he also paid one hundred pounds. An actual survey was afterwards made, and it was found that the tract contained only 21,500 acres. It is de-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Memorial volume to commemorate the semi-centennial anniversary of the Hartwick Lutheran synod, of the state of New York1881 · page 50Read the page →
Read the text
It will not be forgotten that in August, 1870, a convention was held at Hartwick to promote the cause of education in the Lutheran church in the state of New York, and to improve the condition of Hartwick Seminary.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Otsego County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1878 · page 167Read the page →
Read the text
the town of Hartwick, April 2, 1807. Her father was one of the early settlers of that town, having removed from the State of Connecticut, of which lie was a native, about the year 1790. Their family consisted of Rufus P., born in Middlefield, May 12, 1826 ; Caroline L., born June 13, 1828 ; Cynthia Ann, born May 17, 1830, who died in infancy ; Dolphus Skinner, born March 17, 1832, died Oct. 17 1876, — the last three were natives of the town of
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
Hartwick, 1804 to 1993
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Hartwick post office opened in 1804, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Hartwick rank for history?
Hartwick is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Hartwick?
5 listings: 2 buildings, among them the White House, The (listed 2012, the first), 2 historic districts, the Hartwick Historic District and the Mathewson-Bice Farmhouse and Mathewson Family Cemetery, with 151 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 155 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Hartwick?
29% of Hartwick’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1971.
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).
From the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
