History of the Town of Hartland:

Shortly after the Revolutionary War it was discovered that a new, fertile and unsettled area existed in Western New York. Word of this new land spread and in 1803 Zebulon Barnum, Issac Southwell and John Morrison settled on or near the Ridge Road and on June first 1812 the Town of Hartland was organized. At that time, our town consisted of what would later become the Towns of Royalton, Somerset and part of the Town of Newfane. By 1824 these towns were separated and the town as we now know it remained.

Life was hard for our early settlers but opportunities were many. In 1815 there were seven school districts in town and the Ridge Road was laid out with a ninety-nine foot width. In 1822 a mill was established on Johnson’s Creek and by 1835, both the Baptists and Quakers had built their churches. Four more churches were added before 1872.

Previous to the building of the Erie Canal in 1825, this was the center of commerce and activity for the region. In 1816 Samual Morehouse built a large hotel at Hartland Corners in the hope that our town would be selected as the next County seat. However, with the completion of the Erie Canal, Lockport became the focal point of the future and The Town of Hartland remained a rural agricultural town.