History · Hartland

Hartland dates to 1761, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 86% of U.S. towns · #45 of 71 in Vermont. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1790.

1761founded

5on the National Register

24%homes built before 1940

5old photos & papers

2famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Hartland’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Hartland began

When was Hartland founded?

1761

Hartland dates its founding to 1761 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 1,652 in 17902020 census: 3,446265 years

How historic is Hartland?

More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1803.

History grade

What drives Hartland’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hartland is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #45 of 71 in Vermont. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hartland’s overall grade.

Founding era1761, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA⁺Homes built before 194023.5% of homes (±7.2) · typical VT town 22.4% · U.S. 8.4%A⁻National Register5 listings, 14.5 per 10,000 residents · typical VT town 147 · U.S. 2.4B⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 86%

NewerOlder

Vermont towns of 2,500+ (71)Ahead of 37%

Vermont towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Vermont town has 147 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Hartland’s 14.5 sits below most of its state (26% of Vermont towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.2 points). Two sources give 1761.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Hartland’s past

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

Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1820 and 1920, then more than doubled.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Hartland, and 4 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19064 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1998. Watch Hartland change.Older than the countryEstablished in 1761, 15 years before the Declaration of Independence.

★ What stands out · People over time

Hartland, census by census

Lost half of its people between 1820 and 1920, then more than doubled.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Hartland’s post office has been open since 1803. Another post office, Evarts, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hartland

1803–today

North Hartland

1827–today

Hartland Four Corners

1854–today

Evarts

1909–1911

18001910today

Hamlets and corners on the map

FieldsvilleHartland Four CornersJennevilleNorth Hartland

14cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hartland

AldrichCenterCuttsDensmoreFrizzelGallupGallupGillHartlandJennevillePlainsQuaker-WillardWalkerWeed

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

On the map

Hartland on the map, 1906 to 1998

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

1906Hanover 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 Hartland.

The story so far

Hartland, in brief

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

Hartland is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,446 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Hartland, Hartland Four Corners, and North Hartland.

Hartland was established in 1761. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 3,393 in 2010, 3,446 in 2020.

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Hartland, 1891–1913

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

the Town of Windsor & the Town of Hartland as performed November, the Twentyfirst and Twenty-Secontpast(i786)." (The line betiveen Hartland and Hartford was run in 1778. ) records, a division* of the town was made into nine (9) school districts — probably the first division, the account of which, w… — **History and anniversary of Hartland, Vermont**1913Read the page →
Read the text
the Town of Windsor & the Town of Hartland as performed November, the Twentyfirst and Twenty-Secontpast(i786)." (The line betiveen Hartland and Hartford was run in 1778. ) records, a division* of the town was made into nine (9) school districts — probably the first division, the account of which, with
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

The town of Hartland has three small villages or trading centers, called respectively Hartland, but better known as Hartland Three Corners, and formerly as Summerville ; Hartland Four Corners, and North Hartland, each of which is a post town. The two first named are separated by a distance of but l… — **History of Windsor county, Vermont**1891 · page 371Read the page →
Read the text
The town of Hartland has three small villages or trading centers, called respectively Hartland, but better known as Hartland Three Corners, and formerly as Summerville ; Hartland Four Corners, and North Hartland, each of which is a post town. The two first named are separated by a distance of but little more than one mile. At Hartland the mercantile business is done by two well appointed general stores, W. R. Sturtevant and B. F. Labaree being the respective proprietors.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

the authority of the State of Vt. immediately to warn those persons whose names are hereunto annexed to meet on the company parade at Hartland meeting House on thursday the 2nd day of February next at 12 Oclock for the purpose of raising our proportion of one hundred thousand men according to an ac… — **History and anniversary of Hartland, Vermont**1913Read the page →
Read the text
the authority of the State of Vt. immediately to warn those persons whose names are hereunto annexed to meet on the company parade at Hartland meeting House on thursday the 2nd day of February next at 12 Oclock for the purpose of raising our proportion of one hundred thousand men according to an act of Congress and there wait for further orders, thereof fail
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

Hartland, 1761 to 2020

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

18th century
1761
FoundingHartland is established
19th century
1801Born hereLucien Bonaparte Webster is born here
1803Post officeThe Hartland post office opens
1827Post officeThe North Hartland post office opens
1854Post officeThe Hartland Four Corners post office opens
1864Born hereCharles Russell Orcutt is born here
1870BuiltWillard Covered Bridge is built
20th century
1902In the archiveHartland Library ca1901 SturtevantHouse Vermont
1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1910In the archivePostcard of the J. E. Ashworth & Sons factory in Hartland, Vermont circa 1910-1920
1914BuiltDamon Hall is built
1925In the archiveSanborn Fire Insurance Map from Hartland, Windsor County, Vermont. LOC sanborn08921 001
1963In the archiveVT 5 I91 FHWA 1967 703
21st century
2020CensusPopulation peaks at 3,446

By decade

Hartland, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1920s3 items

1902Hartland Library ca1901 SturtevantHouse Vermont

Postcard of the J. E. Ashworth & Sons factory in Hartland, Vermont circa 1910-1920

c. 1910Postcard of the J. E. Ashworth & Sons factory in Hart…Postcard

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Hartland, Windsor County, Vermont. LOC sanborn08921 001

1925Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Hartland, Windsor Cou…Map

1930s–1950snothing 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

1960s1 item

1963VT 5 I91 FHWA 1967 703

1970s–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

Date unknown1 to date

Date?Ottauquechee River

Every building

Hartland, building by building, 1925

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Hartland fire insurance map, 1925, sheet 1

1925Sheet 1 of 1

Sheets

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Retake this viewHartland Library ca1901 SturtevantHouse Vermont, 1902

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

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

5 historic places in Hartland

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

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1973

Martin's Mill Covered Bridge

BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival1

Federal1

Warren deck truss bridge1

Martin's Mill Covered BridgeStructure

Willard Covered BridgeBuilt 1870

Damon HallColonial Revival · Built 1914

David Sumner HouseFederal

Ottauquechee River BridgeWarren deck truss bridge

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Hartland

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

See all →

Charles Russell OrcuttAmerican botanist and malacologist · b. 1864

Lucien Bonaparte WebsterUS Army officer · b. 1801

Help out

Start Hartland’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

4 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2 Retake an old viewHartland Library ca1901 SturtevantHouse…: stand where they stood+15 Share 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.

North Hartland1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Woodstock16 historic placesA⁺Hartford19 historic placesA⁺West Windsor2 historic placesB Windsor11 historic placesA⁺

Questions about Hartland’s history

What year was Hartland founded?

In 1761, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hartland’s post office opened in 1803, and the first U.S. census counted 1,652 people here in 1790.

How does Hartland rank for history?

Hartland is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #45 of 71 in Vermont. 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 Hartland?

5 listings: 2 buildings and 3 structures.

How old are the homes in Hartland?

24% of Hartland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 22% for a Vermont town; the median home was built in 1971.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (25), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.

Post to Hartland

Check your email