History:

One-hundred acres of land was purchased in May of 1854 by the Judges of the Inferior Court and was laid off into streets, squares, and lots. This land became the City of Hartwell, the county seat of Hart County, named for the Revolutionary War heroine, Nancy Hart.  The city was officially incorporated by the legislature on February 26th, 1856.

Although, early in the new century, the economic base was agriculture, Hartwell's leaders, then as now, realized the need for infrastructure to support the industrial base and installed water and sewer lines in the city.  With the completion of the Bankhead Highway (US Hwy 29) in the mid-twenties, Hartwell became an important overnight stop on the way to and from Florida.  However, a most unwelcome visitor arrived in the mid twenties...the boll weevil.  The resultant decline in the agricultural economic base caused a slow exodus of population and not until the late thirties did the economy begin to recover.

Hartwell has been named a Governor's All Star City, a Bicentennial City (one of six in the state), a City of Ethics, Tree City USA, one of the few Main Street cities in Georgia, and is a Certified Local Government.  With increasing emphasis on the Arts, Historic Preservation, and a balanced economic mix of agriculture, industry, and recreation and tourism, the City of Hartwell can well claim to be the "Best Town by Dam Site".