Hartland grew up around the Bark River and a mill, and the downtown along Cottonwood Avenue still follows the water. It has filled in with restaurants and shops over the last decade without turning into a strip, which most people here consider a win.
Nixon Park is the town's living room. The bandshell hosts summer concerts, the playground is always busy, and the Lake Country Recreation Trail runs right through on the old railroad bed, connecting Hartland to Delafield one way and Pewaukee the other.
Arrowhead Union High School is the anchor and one of the largest high schools in the state. A Friday in fall in this town ends at the Arrowhead field, and the Warhawks pull a crowd that would embarrass some colleges.
The Hartland Marsh is the quiet one. The Ice Age Trail runs through a restored wetland right at the edge of downtown, boardwalks and all, which is an unusual thing to have within walking distance of a main street.
Hartland has roughly 9,000 people and the feel of somewhere smaller, partly because the downtown is genuinely walkable and partly because Arrowhead gives the whole area a shared center of gravity. The village has done a careful job of adding without sprawling.
