Local History

Ferdino Olds became the first settler in the township in 1837 and when it was organized in 1840 he named it Hartland after his native town in New York.  But there was another Hartland in Michigan and, at the suggestion of another 1837 settler, Burrill A. Olney, it was renamed Hartford.  Its hamlet, first called Bloody Corners, due to its early unsavory reputation for liquor, was given a post office as Hartford on March 31, 1856.  First platted by Truman Stratton, W. W. Shepard, and others, in 1859. Given a station on the Pere Marquette Railroad in 1870.  Incorporated as a village in 1877.

Informational excerpts from Michigan Place Names, by Walter Romig, L.H.D.

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