Hartland Community Enrichment Organization

Hartland and its Rich History

Hartland 1820

Hartland 1820
*Please Note: The following information is taken, though not in its entirety, from the book "Hartland, Maine, 175th Anniversary 1820-1995". This Book which contains many historical pictures as well as informative information is available at the Hartland Town Office.

From it's status as a Plantation in 1811 and formerly called the Warren Towns, Hartland was incorporated as a town on February 7, 1820. As Hartland came together, the steamship was in development and railroads were merely an idea. The telephone and telegraph had not yet been invented and neither had antibiotics or anesthetics. Roads were important and may of the roads in place then are still driven today.

Location on a river almost guaranteed establishment of a mill town. In addition to a Gristmill and the Sawmill, there was a tannery established in 1828 which operated until the late 1800's. A second tannery started in 1852 and operated until 1887 at the end of Water Street near the upper dam. Tanneries needed large amounts of water and plenty of hemlock bark which was used to tan the leather and Hartland had both in abundance.

Textile mills made their appearance in New england near the start of the 19th century.The Linn Wollen Mill came to Hartland in 1860 and with the start of the Civil War found prosperity making cloth for the US government. This mill continued to be an important part of Hartland's economy when it was sold to American Woolen Co., in 1915 and ran until 1931 when it closed during the great depression of the 1930's. The next major business to open would be the tannery started by Meyer Kirstein in 1936, now known as the Irving Tanning Corporation.

An Important Lesson
When the (now) Irving tannery started in 1936 it reflected the spirit of resolve with which citizens of the town have met major problems over the years.