Main Street
Hartford, Michigan
In The Early 1900s

     Before blacktop roads, cars, or traffic jams, Hartford was a quiet, social community.  Look closely in the middle of the photo, there is a horse and buggy coming down Main Street.  Other horses and buggies are tied to hitching post on each side of the street.  Click here to zoom in (after next window and photo opens, click on the orange button in the lower right side of the photo) on the photo to actually see detail of many community folk sitting on benches or walking by in front of the stores.  Even names of the stores are faintly visible on hanging signs or as advertisements on the roll-up awnings....Vienna bakery, clothing store, a restaurant.  Notice the top architectural design of the stores in the foreground.  Many of these Main Street stores are still standing in the year 2002.  Some of the lower portions of the stores have been remodeled over the years, but the outside upper levels remain virtually the same.  The photographer of this picture was standing in the middle of the road near Ely Park and facing easterly toward the Village of Lawrence.

     In 1877, a fire nearly destroyed the business part of Hartford.   Another fire also took out a large portion of the Main Street business district in 1969, which is the mid-right area of this photo.