Hartford, Michigan

Hartford sits at the heart of Michigan's Fruit Belt, the narrow band of southwestern Lower Michigan where Lake Michigan moderates temperatures just enough to grow peaches, cherries, apples, and grapes that would never survive further inland. Van Buren County began shipping fruit to Chicago and Milwaukee by lake boat in the nineteenth century. Hartford's position along the railroad made it a natural hub for loading and processing that harvest.

By the early twentieth century, canning operations had taken root here. Today the fields around Hartford still produce fruit, and the county's agricultural legacy is preserved at the Van Buren County Museum located here.