Arrival of European Descendants

Arrival of European Descendants. . , In 1834, John Thiel and Nicholas Simon surveyed Washington County; including the area around Pike Lake and the Rubicon River. The original settlers of Hartford were from the New England colonies, heading West to explore and develop new lands. When they arrived to Hartford, they were surrounded by expanses of prairie and dense forest., A dam built across the Rubicon River fueled a sawmill that promoted timber industries to grow. Railways were established in 1855 that linked Chicago, Milwaukee, La Crosse and Minneapolis until the early 1900s. , Pike Lake and the numerous streams and tributaries feeding into it were influential in the lives of the townspeople. In 1847, they agreed to name the town Hartford. "Hart" comes from the Potawatomi description of the shape of the lake. "Ford" refers to the river crossing, because the Rubicon River had to be crossed to get into town. , Captions: , This photo is of Frank on the left and his son, Roy Moldenhauer, is on the right moving planks and logs around the mill. Over Frank's shoulder is Powder Hill without today's regrown forest. Photo is looking southwest from what is now the Brown Trail and Powder Hill Road. , Logs ready for milling. The logs are on the south side of what is now the Brown Trail where it crosses Powder HI Road. Photo was taken from Powder Hill Road looking southeast. , Above is an early Platt map of the area surrounding Pike Lake.