[7] The Hartford, Kentucky website explains that "soreheads[8] are community-minded, progressive citizens who work to promote civic pride".

About the town, It initially faced Indian attacks but was named the seat of Ohio County the year after its formation in 1798 in exchange for a grant of land from Mr. Madison.

The post office was established as Hartford Court House in 1801[10] and the settlement was formally incorporated by the state assembly in 1808.

[2] An account written in the early 1800s by a William Smithers relates that he and several other settlers helped build "a fort at Hartford on Rough Creek" in 1782–83, which local tradition asserts was the first permanent settlement in Ohio County and the entire lower Green River Valley.

It is believed to have consisted of a stockade and small log buildings on the bluff above the Rough River now occupied by Hartford's water plant.

From the late Depression years, two buildings were private endeavors and three were the result of a federally sponsored public works program.

Despite alterations, the district remains a visually distinct entity due to the extensively renovated older buildings and new construction that define its edges.

Leading industries in Hartford include: Healthcare/Social Assistance, Public Administration, Retail Trade Business, Educational Services, Financial/Insurance, and Food & Beverage Stores.

[13] The OC Hub, located in downtown Hartford, provides office space, conference, and training room rentals as a business incubator.

Its gently rolling terrain characteristic of the county overall is laid out primarily in a somewhat irregular grid interrupted by rural roads at its northern reaches and U.S. 231, the town's major access, near its southern boundary.

Hartford's oldest and most densely developed portion is its western area along the Rough River which continues to display the town's original early nineteenth-century plan in its grid of small square and larger rectangular blocks.

[13] The former two-year Hartford College existed on East Union Street at the site of the current Ohio County School Board administrative office.