The Hartford City Courthouse Square Historic District is located in Hartford City, Indiana. Hartford City has a population of about 7,000 and is the county seat of Blackford County and the site of the county courthouse. The National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior added the Hartford City Courthouse Square Historic District to the National Register of Historic Places on June 21, 2006—meaning the buildings and objects that contribute to the continuity of the district are worthy of preservation because of their historical and architectural significance.National Register of Historic Places List of Actions Taken on Properties 6/19/06 through 6/23/06 web page.The National Register of Historic Places web site has a list of criteria for evaluation. The District has over 60 resources, including over 40 contributing buildings, over 10 non-contributing buildings, one contributing object (a World War I statue), eight non-contributing objects, and two other buildings that are listed separately in the National Register.Hamilton, section 5. Although Hamilton describes exact counts for properties, those counts do not agree with Hamilton's map on page 25 of the Registration Form.

Much of the District's significance relates to the discovery of natural gas in the east central region of Indiana.Hamilton, section 8, pages 12–13. The discovery led to a regional economic boom known as the Indiana Gas Boom. Beginning in the late 1880s and lasting for about 15 years, the Gas Boom changed the economy and the appearance of the region.Glass, page 97. The Hartford City Courthouse Square Historic District is situated in what was the center of Hartford City in the 19th and 20th centuries, and most of the buildings within the District were constructed during the Gas Boom era. The buildings within the District were built in several architectural styles, including Commercial Italianate, Romanesque Revival, Renaissance Revival, and others. Many of the buildings' exteriors have not been changed from their original appearance.Hamilton, section 7, pages 1–2.

History

Hartford City began in the late 1830s as a few log cabins near a creek in East Central Indiana. The community was originally named Hartford. This was later changed to "Hartford City" after it was discovered that another "Hartford" already existed elsewhere in Indiana.A History of Blackford County, page 45. The East Central Indiana version of Hartford was named county seat of Blackford County early in its existence, thereby ensuring its importance.Biographical and historical record of Jay and Blackford Counties..., pages 744–745. It took over 40 years for the rural community to grow to a population of nearly 1,500.Esarey, page 980. During that time, community planners had the foresight to plan for railroads, which linked the community to other cities, beginning in the 1860s.Biographical and historical record of Jay and Blackford Counties..., pages 759–760. With a focus on agriculture, the entire county had only 171 people working in manufacturing as of June, 1880.Biographical and historical record of Jay and Blackford Counties..., page 761.

Hartford City Gas and Oil Company was formed in February 1887, and the company found natural gas in March of the same year.Biographical and historical record of Jay and Blackford Counties..., pages 746–747. Shinn's Biographical Record of Blackford... says, on page 679, that the company was started November 1886. A History of Blackford County..., on page 18, agrees with February 1887 for the start date. Surnames of some of the directors of this company can be found on the District's buildings today — Campbell, Smith, Dowell, and Weiler. Both oil and natural gas were discovered in the county in 1887, and the city began a period of rapid growth.Hartford City Illustrated..., page 3. Described as the "future metropolis of Eastern Indiana", the city successfully used its railroad facilities and abundant natural gas resource as enticements for manufacturers to locate there, and became a boom town.Hartford City Illustrated..., pages 3, 14 and 16. Hartford City was not alone with its good fortune — natural gas (and some oil) had also been discovered in adjacent counties.Rupp web page "Oil and Gas in Indiana" . The entire East Central Indiana region was transformed during a fifteen to twenty-year period that became known as the Indiana Gas Boom, as manufacturers moved to the area.See Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry's East Central Indiana web site .

Upon examination of Hartford City's infrastructure, the Gas Boom's transformation of the city is apparent. The wooden buildings surrounding the courthouse prior to the Gas Boom were vulnerable to fire, and the District had at least three major fires between 1871 and 1881.Three of the district's major fires are described in Biographical and historical record of Jay and Blackford Counties..., page 746. During the Gas Boom, wooden buildings were torn down and replaced with brick buildings.The "removal" of buildings on the south side of the courthouse square for the construction of the brick-and-stone Briscoe Block is described on page 2, column 1, of Gas Belt Review — a publication by the Blackford County Historical Society that consists of reprints of newspaper articles from 1893 to 1896. Many of the other buildings on the courthouse square have dates on their facades from the Gas Boom period (1887~1905). The courthouse was replaced with a magnificent stone and brick structure (see recent photo herein). Eventually, an interurban rail line ran by the east side of the courthouse square, providing easy access to the courthouse square commercial district and adding to the two rail lines that already served the city. The Gas Boom's economic transformation of the city is also apparent when examining the city's population. By 1900, the city had grown to a population of 5,912. Over 1,200 people worked in manufacturing in Hartford City in 1902 — and this was in addition to the bankers, merchants, physicians, and lawyers necessary for a growing population.See Indiana Department of Inspection..., page 57. These population and manufacturing figures are considerably larger than the pre-Gas Boom figures for 1880.

The gas and oil became depleted in the early 20th century, and the Gas Boom era came to an end. However, Hartford City was permanently changed. The city's infrastructure was vastly improved. Buildings in the commercial district surrounding the courthouse square were made of brick and stone instead of wood.Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, page 60, says "Between 1890 and 1900 most of the downtown buildings were torn down and reconstructed." A municipal waterworks was built in 1894. Telephones became available to Hartford City's surrounding rural areas in 1903. By 1914, 98 percent of the houses in Hartford City were wired for electricity. Roads were being paved, and the interurban line made it easier to travel to/from other cities.Hamilton, section 8, page 15. While some of the manufacturing facilities that depended on a low-cost source of fuel were closed after the boom, others remained in the city because they did not have a better alternative. A city that had very few manufacturing jobs now had a supply of skilled manufacturing personnel. Some of this skilled workforce remained in the city after the boom, while some found new occupations in the automobile and auto parts manufacturing facilities that were beginning to be located in nearby cities.

Architecture

Three styles of architecture are well represented in the collection of buildings that are part of the Hartford City Courthouse Square Historic District: Commercial Italianate, Renaissance Revival, and Romanesque Revival. A few examples of the Queen Anne style can also be found.Hamilton, section 7, page 1. Grouped together, these styles are called Victorian architecture, and buildings constructed in these styles during the 19th century are more likely to have decorative ornamentation (such as the face-like object from the east side of the Weiler Building shown herein) than buildings constructed later in the 20th century.Collins, page 126. Because many of the District's buildings were constructed during the Gas Boom era (between 1885 and 1905), these styles of architecture are more prevalent than the styles that became popular later in the 20th century. However, additional architecture styles are also represented. An outstanding example of the Art Deco style can be found in the district's Scheidler Theatre, and the Post Office is the single outstanding example of the Neoclassical style.Hamilton, section 7, page 11. The commercial building at 210 East Washington Street is the District's sole representative of the Art Moderne style of architecture.Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, page 62.

Romanesque Revival architecture was very popular in Hartford City, and at least 7 of the District's contributing buildings were built using this style.Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, page 63. This style of architecture is known for round arches in many of the openings.Poppeliers, page 54. Smooth surfaces, sometimes with belt courses are also typical. A variation of the Romanesque Revival architectural style known as Richardsonian Romanesque was popular in America near the end of the 19th century, when much of the construction around Hartford City's courthouse took place.See Buffalo Architecture and History web page . The courthouse and Presbyterian Church are outstanding examples of Henry Hobson Richardson's variation in Romanesque Revival style.Boyd, section 8. (See photos herein.) A corner tower, arched windows, recessed entrances, steeply pitched roofs, and multiple exterior textures (rustication) are typical of this style of architecture.City of Salisbury Historic District Design Guidelines web page. The Richardsonian Romanesque buildings differ from the original Romanesque Revival buildings by having rough-textured exterior surfaces instead of all-smooth surfaces.Poppeliers, page 78. The Hotel Ingram, Kirshbaum, and Weiler buildings were built in Romanesque Revival style with arched windows and multiple exterior textures, but they were not identified in the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form as Richardsonian (see photos of all three buildings herein.)

Boundaries

Located in the original center of the community, the Hartford City Courthouse Square Historic District includes significant portions of the city's historic commercial district.Hamilton, section 8, page 16. The town was platted using the Public Land Survey System typical of Northwest Ordinance communities — with rectangular blocks, and streets running north–south and east–west. Hartford City's layout of a courthouse surrounded by an open area was a common design in the "Midwest" of the United States.Hamilton, section 8, page 13. The Courthouse Square Historic District includes the courthouse and surrounding blocks. Franklin Street is the northernmost street in the district, and Water Street borders part of the southern part of the district. The west side is past High Street almost to Walnut Street, and the east side reaches half a block past Monroe Street toward Mulberry Street.Hamilton, section 10, page 24; and section map, page 25.