In 1834, John Thiel and Nicholas Simon surveyed Washington County, including the area around Pike Lake and the Rubicon River. Hartford’s original settlers came from the New England colonies, heading west to explore and develop new lands. They arrived in a landscape of prairie and dense forest. A dam built across the Rubicon River powered a sawmill that helped timber industries grow. Railways established in 1855 linked Chicago, Milwaukee, La Crosse, and Minneapolis until the early 1900s. Pike Lake and the streams and tributaries feeding it strongly influenced the lives of the townspeople. In 1847, the settlers agreed to name the town Hartford: “Hart” came from the Potawatomi description of the shape of the lake, and “Ford” referred to the river crossing needed to enter town.