Welcome to Hardwick

Hardwick_Welcome_Sign.jpg

This sign welcomes visitors driving into Hardwick on Rock County's Highway 7.

If you're driving on U.S Route 75 through Minnesota, the first glimpse you'll catch of Hardwick is the top of a grain elevator jutting out over the surrounding fields. For most, that first glimpse is all they'll ever get. On that same stretch of highway just in Southwestern Minnesota alone, there are hundreds of small communities roughly the same size as Hardwick with similar amenities. It was founded in 1892, around the same time as most towns in the region, and like a good majority of them, Hardwick owes its existence to the railroad.1

The welcome side proudly displays an old steam engine in a nod to the community's roots, but no train has passed through since 1969.2 Since then, the population has never returned to its high of 328,3 when Hardwick claimed a bowling alley, a bustling downtown, and several different churches. When the railroad shut down, businesses closed, and the town was only able to maintain one of those churches, a bar, and its post office. But is that all there is to it? 

On paper, that is the story of Hardwick and the 189 people (as of the 2020 census)4 who continue to call it home. But if you visit, there's no sign that the town is in mourning. Hardwick is not a dying community, and this simple historical overview misses a lot. Church cookbooks are one way to illustrate the community’s complexities, showing Hardwick as more than another small town—a perspective difficult to discover in more traditional sources. 

  1. Hardwick Community Club. A Century of History Hardwick 1892-1992. Hills, Minnesota: Crescent Publishing Incorporated, 1992. 6.↩

  2. Hardwick Community Club. A Century of History Hardwick 1892-1992. Hills, Minnesota: Crescent Publishing Incorporated, 1992. 18.↩

  3. Hardwick Community Club. A Century of History Hardwick 1892-1992. Hills, Minnesota: Crescent Publishing Incorporated, 1992. 18.↩

  4. United States Census Bureau. Hardwick City, Minnesota. https://data.census.gov/all?q=Hardwick%20city,%20Minnesota (accessed July 5, 2024). ↩

HardwickPostOffice.jpg

This is the current Hardwick Post Office Building which opened in 1950. Hardwick was first surveyed and dedicated in February of 1892, but a post office has been in operation in the area since 1887.1

  1. Hardwick Community Club. A Century of History Hardwick 1892-1992. Hills, Minnesota: Crescent Publishing Incorporated, 1992. 40.

HardwickElevator.jpg

This grain elevator dominates the Hardwick skyline and is operated by the Chandler Feed Company. Hardwick has long had a reputation for being a good grain market, and an elevator has been in operation on this site since 1892.1 

  1. Hardwick Community Club. A Century of History Hardwick 1892-1992. Hills, Minnesota: Crescent Publishing Incorporated, 1992. 41.

ZionLutheranChurch.jpeg

Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church is the only church in Hardwick. Originally founded as the Hardwick German Lutheran Church in 1894, the first building was completed and dedicated "The Evangelical Lutheran Zion Church" in 1902. The current building was finished in 1948.1 

  1. Hardwick Community Club. A Century of History Hardwick 1892-1992. Hills, Minnesota: Crescent Publishing Incorporated, 1992. 36-37.

HardwickFireDepartment.jpg

This building is the current home of the Hardwick Fire Department and was built in 1959. The Hardwick Fire Department was founded in 1899 when the city purchased 3 fire extinguishers and appointed Sam Marshall as the first fire warden.1 

  1. Hardwick Community Club. A Century of History Hardwick 1892-1992. Hills, Minnesota: Crescent Publishing Incorporated, 1992. 32-34.

HardwickCityHall.jpg

A tractor passes in front of the Hardwick City Hall during the town's 125th anniversary parade. The city hall is home to the town's government. The first city council meeting in the town's history occurred in November of 1898, and the first order of business was to approve a village constable for a salary of $8 a month.1   

  1. Hardwick Community Club. A Century of History Hardwick 1892-1992. Hills, Minnesota: Crescent Publishing Incorporated, 1992. 9.

GreenLantern_Hardwick.jpg

The Green Lantern Bar is the only restaurant still in operation in Hardwick. While ownership has changed dozens of times over the years, a cafe or bar has operated in the town under the Green Lantern name since 1920 with only one brief closure in 1986. It remained open during prohibition as a pool hall.1 

  1. Hardwick Community Club. A Century of History Hardwick 1892-1992. Hills, Minnesota: Crescent Publishing Incorporated, 1992. 43. 

HardwickCommunityHall.jpg

This building originally served as the Hardwick Community Church before being sold to the city and becoming Arthur Moeller Legion Post #478 in 1985. The building can be reserved for public or private events, but it still hosts legion events and meetings.1  

  1. Hardwick Community Club. A Century of History Hardwick 1892-1992. Hills, Minnesota: Crescent Publishing Incorporated, 1992. 43.

HardwickVeteransMemorial.jpg

The Hardwick Veteran's Memorial was dedicated in 2008 and originally included the names of 230 service members. Names are added regularly.1 

  1. Buntjer, Julia. "Hardwick Area Veterans Memorial Dedicated." The Worthington Globe, May 26, 2008. https://www.dglobe.com/news/hardwick-area-veterans-memorial-dedicated.