Hartsville, Pennsylvania

Hartsville was named for Colonel William Hart, who served during the Revolutionary War. After relocating to the village during the late 1700s, he opened a new inn which he called "The Sign of the Hart."^[3][4]

Initially a station stop on the Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad that was named Hartville, that railroad depot was later renamed Ivyland.^[5]

As a town gradually formed around the stop and inn, the town was renamed as Hartsville and more services were added to meet the needs of the growing population. A Presbyterian church opened its doors in Hartsville in 1839, and continued to serve its congregation until 1939, when it merged with another church; its Hartsville building was then torn down.^[6][7] The church's cemetery is perpetually maintained.^[8]

A collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art includes an 1843 cut-paper silhouette portrait of a Hartsville resident identified as Mrs. James P. Wilson.^[9]

The Hartsville Fire Company is the site of a 9/11 memorial.^[10][11]

In 2019, water from private wells in the community was reportedly unsafe to drink because of contamination by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals, possibly from toxic waste from closed military facilities nearby.^[12]