Hartland Railroad Depot

Because of the number of porminent resorts in the Lake Country area, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad decided to build impressive depots between Pewaukee and Oconomowoc. The new Hartland Depot was completed in 1899 and was built of split rock with a red-tiled roof, brick sidewalks and spaces set aside for flowers and “Rochester lamps” that greeted passengers as they arrived. The interior was finished with plaster and wainscoting and contained a waiting room to the east, an agent’s quarters in the center and a “smoking room.”

In 1909, Hartland made a bit of history when President William Howard Taft’s train stopped in the Village on July 24th, and the President delivered a speech from the platform of Hartland’s beautiful depot. In fact, trains were so predominate that one day that year, 65 trains were recorded as having passed through Hartland in one day.

The depot was destroyed by fire in 1916.

The final depot was built in 1917 and exhibited little of the grandeur of its predecessor. It was functional until 1969 when the building was removed when trains ceased to stop in Hartland.

If you have any historic pictures (preferably pre-WWII) that you would like to share with the Hartland Historical Society, please let us know by emailing us at:hartlandhistory@wi.rr.com.