Town of Hartford

Millions of years ago, the climate was quite warm all year round. The Green Mountains were much higher and wider than they are now.

Millions of years later, the climate changed again and Vermont became very cold. A great mass of ice and snow formed. It covered North America, including Vermont.

As the glaciers melted, they created large bodies of water. It cut new lanes for rivers. It caused lakes and valleys to form. This also caused decaying of all growing things (plants and animals) producing fertile soil.

French explorer Samuel D. Champlain and the Algonquin Indians explored Lake Champlain. The French built forts or trading posts. They traded with the Indians by giving them colorful beads and in exchange, they received furs.

The English wanted to settle on this land because of the supply of wild animals. The French did not like the idea. The French and Indian War started.

During the French and Indian War in the early 1700's, war scouts, rangers, hunters, and trappers traveled through the wilderness. It was the main route from Massachusetts to Montreal. It was discovered that this was valuable land. There was a forest with a lot of lumber for building homes, good hunting and trapping, good fertile soil for planting crops and a good supply of water.

In 1749, the King of England gave Governor Benning Wentworth the right to charter towns along the Connecticut River. This was known as the New Hampshire Grants.

Elijah and Benajah Strong surveyed the town. During their work, they realized its value, especially the water power of the three rivers. (the Connecticut, the Ottauquechee and the White River) and the forests that covered the land.

On July 4, 1761, a charter was given to 62 people from Windham and Lebanon, Connecticut. Their agent was John Baldwin. The town was named Hartford after Hartford, Connecticut.

The charter provided that the annual town meetings would be always be held in March. It was expected that fifty families who settled in Hartford would hold town fairs twice a year and open and keep a market one or more days a week.

Benjamin Wright is thought to be the first permanent settler in Hartford. He settled in what is now known as Lyman Point in 1763. He was 39 years old.

Before 1840, all of the town business was held at the Center of Town at the Meeting House. Town meetings were held there until 1872. They were held in Hartford Village for several years.

Hartford Village was originally named White River Village. The first post office was located there along with many other important placed. Water power was the reason for businesses building there.

Quechee soon became the most important village in Hartford because of the manufacturing and its wealthy residents. Quechee was also the home of many honored citizens such as Joseph Marsh and Charles Porter.

West Hartford was a village located on the Central Vermont Railroad. It was known for its trading center and as a shipping point.

The area known as White River Junction grew because of the construction of the railroad. It was the first part of Hartford to be divided into lots. Elias Lyman III and Samuel Nutt were both merchants and boatmen. They both helped to build the village.

Wilder was the last village to be settled. Wilder was originally named Olcott after Mills Olcott who built a dam, a canal and a bridge on the Connecticut River. In 1890, Olcott was renamed Wilder after Charles Wilder. When Wilder died, he left a large amount of money to the town to build a carriage bridge across the Connecticut River connecting Wilder, Vermont to Lebanon, New Hampshire. The town could use the money only if they renamed the village from Olcott to Wilder.

For several years after the first settlement in Hartford, the people had to go to Charlestown, New Hampshire to have their grain ground into flour. The trip was 25 miles. The road was a narrow path. It was a two day trip.

Some of the earliest mills in Hartford were built in Quechee because of the water power on the Ottauquechee River. In 1769, a sawmill was operated by a group of men. By 1771, a grist mill and a fulling mill was added. Grist mills ( grinds grain into flour) and woolen mills (processes of wool-manufacture, as carding, spinning, and weaving, are performed, separately or together) were also located in Hartford Village.

A wing dam was built at the White River Falls near Wilder. The water power was used for grinding grain and sawing wood. By 1810, Mills Olcott had built a dam and canals with locks. Later a pulp mill was completed. It manufactured paper for city newpapers.

In 1823, a cotton factory was built in Hartford Village. The factory was destroyed by fire and later became a mill for grinding plaster and then a factory for making chairs. In the 1860's, there was a saw mill, a box factory and a farm tool factory built in Hartford Village.

In 1836, Albert Galatin Dewey founded and built the first wollen mill in the United States in Quechee, VT. This is known as Dewey's Mills.

During the 1880's, Henry Miller built horse carriages in Hartland and White River Junction. This later became the Miller Auto Company.

In 1894, the Thayer Company manufactured candy which sold throughout the United States. Later, a bakery was added.

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Learn more: Hartford Historical Society