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HISTORY OF HARTLAND
You
might say that the seed from which Hartland grew was planted in
Ann Arbor
,
Michigan
. Sometime in the
fall of 1837, Stephen, the oldest of 13 children of the
Sylvanus Warren family of
Ann Arbor
decided to move west and walked to
Fort
Dearborn
(
Chicago
).
He worked there and saved money for his journey and in
February of 1838, he walked to
Milwaukee
and ultimately to Prairieville (
Waukesha
).
In 1839 he bought 165 acres of land between Maple and
Cottonwood Avenues
(Hartland). Later he obtained probably another 80 acres east
of
Maple Avenue
and
became Hartland's first real estate man, settler and builder.
Other pioneers began farming the fertile
Bark
River
Valley
around 1837 and the
village was known as
Warren
.
Later, in 1842, a grist mill was built by Christian
Hershey and the village was renamed Hersheyville. Even in
those early days
Hartland was a popular recreational site. A race track with a
baseball diamond in its
center was built in 1845. After horse races, the ball games
between Hartland and
neighboring towns drew as many as 10,000 people. Inns and
resorts sprang up
when the
Watertown
Plank Road
(literally made from 10' log planks)
was built in
1846. The first Post Office was opened that same year with
William Clark as
Postmaster. After the railroad came in 1854 the village was
given the name it still
holds - Hartland, after the Indian word
"Shabaquanake".
As the fury of the Civil War descended upon the nation,
Hartland continued to
prosper. Settlers continued to arrive in the area, some
from abroad, some from other
parts of the
United
States
and even some returning to the area
after having tried their
hand at endeavors in other parts of the country. The
news of
Fort
Sumter
's surrender
reached areas around Hartland on Saturday evening, April 12,
1861, but was not
generally disseminated until Sunday. Several soldiers
are buried in area cemeteries.
In 1886, Hartland saw it's first local paper, The Hartland
Index. It changed names
and hands several times but continues to this day as The Lake
Country Reporter.
Hartland was incorporated as a village in 1892. Until this
time, the village had been
divided between the townships of Merton and Delafield. An
election was held on
February 13, 1892, and a descendant of the original founding
family, M.H. Warren
was elected the first Village President. With roads,
mills, stables, inns and a railway
nested inside fertile farmland, Hartland developed into the
village we know today.
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