Hartwell is a city in Hart County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,469 at the 2010 census.[4] The city is the county seat of Hart County.[5]
History
Hartwell was founded in 1854 as seat of the newly formed Hart County. It was incorporated as a town in 1856 and as a city in 1904.[6] The town was named for Revolutionary War figure Nancy Morgan Hart.[7]
According to the United States Census Bureau, Hartwell has a total area of 5.1 square miles (13.2 km2), of which 0.02 square miles (0.04 km2), or 0.32%, are water.[4]
Climate
Climate data for Hartwell, Georgia, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1908–present
The median income for a household in the city was $29,128 and the median income for a family was $45,909. The per capita income for the city was $18,937. About 15.4% of families and 23.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.5% of those under age 18 and 20.6% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Hart County School District
The Hart County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of three elementary schools, a middle school, a high school, and an academy school.[13] The district has 230 full-time teachers and over 3,564 students.[14]
The Hart County Public Library was begun in 1938 with rooms over Homer Herndon's drug store, then moved to the County Courthouse in 1941 until 1968 when the courthouse burned down. It was then located in the County School Board building until funds were raised for a permanent building in 1975.[15]
Controversy
The Hartwell Police Department was mentioned during an August 2024 podcast interview by YouTuber DG Hamblin with a former Hartwell Police Officer[16][17] who discussed supervisors' contact with the controversial Poulan Police Department Police Chief, as well as supervisors' apparent lack of knowledge of lawful policing procedures, to include several falsehoods in police documentation that was showcased in a redacted documents release.[18][19] DG Hamblin posted both the interview and the redacted documents on his YouTube Channel, The DG Hamblin Show.