[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 19 (Wednesday, February 6, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING HARTFORD, KENTUCKY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ED WHITFIELD

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 6, 2008

  Mr. WHITFIELD. Madam Speaker, I rise in recognition of the city of 
Hartford, Kentucky, located in the First Congressional District of 
Kentucky. On February 3, 2008, Hartford will celebrate its bicentennial 
birthday. This community in western Kentucky is among the oldest towns 
in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the third largest city in western 
Kentucky. It probably has one of the most unique yet welcoming slogans, 
``Home of 2,000 Happy People and a Few Soreheads.''
  Hartford was settled before 1790 in an area that was often a scene of 
bloody strife between American Indians and 18th century pioneers. There 
is evidence that a settlement was made at the present site of Hartford 
in 1782 and this was the first fortified settlement in the lower Green 
River Valley of western Kentucky.
  The source of the town's name is uncertain. There is one tradition 
that a man named Hart ran a ferry there, hence the name Hart's Ford, 
which later became Hartford. Another tradition found in reminiscences 
of early times is that the town was so called because animals including 
deer, the male of which the English forebears called a ``Hart'' had a 
regular crossing or ``Ford'' at the location of Hartford on the banks 
of Rough Creek.
  The town of Hartford was formally established as ``400 acres of land 
heretofore designated and laid out for a town, in the county of Ohio, 
on Rough creek, on the land of the late Gabriel Madison, inclusive of 
the out and in lots by an Act of the Legislature of the Commonwealth of 
Kentucky, enacted February 3, 1808.''
  Madam Speaker, Hartford has a rich history from its pioneer founding 
to the battle of brother against brother during the Civil War. Some of 
Hartford's famous past residents include Virgil Earp, brother of Wyatt 
Earp of the OK Corral acclaim, and impressionist painter Charles 
Courtney Curran, whose works hang in the Smithsonian Museum of Modem 
Art.
  Hartford, Kentucky, is a progressive community welcoming those from 
near and far to visit or make their home in this inviting community. 
Opportunities from tourism to high tech industry attract visitors and 
new residents in this community located in the heart of western 
Kentucky.
  Madam Speaker, it is with great pride that I bring to the attention 
of this House the historical significance and sense of community that 
the citizens of Hartford, Kentucky, have as they celebrate the 200th 
anniversary of a great American city.

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