HARTFORD — The town of Hartford has a new 32,440-pound marble welcome sign to greet visitors as they come into town.
The large stone was donated by Lyon County resident Bob Davis, who owns a rock quarry west of Olpe.
The stone was dedicated on Sunday. As a part of the dedication, the town’s 150th Committee members held a “Guess the Weight of the Rock” contest. Phil Mott came closest with a guess of 32,300 pounds; Don Roberts and Tharon Mott tied for second with guesses of 32,100 pounds.
The plot of land for the sign was donated by Lawrence and Anne Dudrey to the city. The rock was engraved by Jim Barrett of Cottonwood Falls. Dick Wilson and his family provided labor and equipment for moving the rock and preparing its foundation along with Cochran bridge crew, who used their crane to lift the rock and set it in place.
At the ceremony, John O’Connor spoke. He said that 150 years ago last year A.K. Hawks and Harvey D. Rice thought the Hartford area would be a good place for a town.
“I would heartily agree with them,” O’Connor said. “They were right. When they stood on this location 150 years ago, there was absolutely nothing here except nature itself.”
Hartford has seen many changes over those 150 years, including the construction of the Hartford levee and a modern fire department.
“For rural areas, some will remember when we had a single fire truck with a pull cord lawn mower engine on it to pump water and how that engine in the midst of trying to put out a fire, that it would not start!” O’Connor said. “Therefore, no water. Today, in Hartford, we have fire trucks with one main pumper that rivals those in larger cities ...”
Hartford also has a cafe, a convenience store, mechanic shop, an elevator, a bakery, barber shop, car wash, bank, post office, a park with playground, baseball field, school, three churches and a city hall. There’s also the recent addition of a community center. Many improvements are scheduled to the town including new water lines and restoration of the water tower.
The marble welcome stone is another addition to the town.
“Our hope is to continue improvements in our infrastructure as well as have a greater sense of community,” O’Connor said.