[2] The rural town is part of the Northwest Hills Planning Region and forms the northwestern border of Hartford County.

Currently, the town consists of two unincorporated areas, East and West Hartland, entirely separated by the northern portion of the Barkhamsted Reservoir.

Originally referenced as the "Western Lands," the unsettled area was the subject of a 37-year controversy over competing claims by the Connecticut Colony and the towns of Hartford and Windsor.

[3] After the Colony's General Court was petitioned in 1724 to settle the dispute, it divided the lands among the three parties, which was followed by a confirming patent issued by Governor Joseph Talcott in 1729.

[4] In 1754, Captain/Deacon Thomas Giddings Jr II (1723 -1790) and his wife Mary Coult became the town's first permanent settlers.

[5] The town is bisected by the Farmington River's east branch which became the northern section of Barkhamsted Reservoir after construction of the Saville Dam in 1940.

[6] The reservoir and surrounding land, owned by the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) water authority, fills the hollow between East and West mountains.

The construction of the reservoir and the Saville Dam required the relocation of over 1,000 people, four cemeteries, and numerous family farms in Hartland and Barkhamsted.

From 1856 to 1876, Hartland supported Democratic candidates for president except for Abraham Lincoln received in the four-way race in 1860.