Hartselle is located in north-central Alabama in Morgan County. It has a mayor/council form of government. Hartselle is included in the book The 100 Best Small Towns in America. It is the birthplace of novelist and journalist William Bradford Huie and noted progressive U.S. congressman and senator John J. Sparkman.
History

One of the primary industries that sustained the city, especially after the railroad came through, was logging and timber processing. Peaking at the turn of the century, it began a gradual decline and was no longer a significant industry by 1932. Hartselle also was a cotton-ginning center for the county.

Demographics
According to 2020 Census estimates, Hartselle recorded a population of 14,421. Of that number, 83.2 percent identified themselves as white, 6.9 percent as African American, 5.9 percent as two or more races, 2.6 percent as Hispanic, 2.2 percent as Asian, and 0.8 percent as Native American. The city's median household income was $56,323, and per capita income was $28,731.
Employment
According to 2020 Census estimates, the workforce in Hartselle was divided among the following industrial categories:
- Educational services and health care and social assistance (23.3 percent)
- Manufacturing (17.4 percent)
- Retail trade (15.0 percent)
- Arts, entertainment, and recreation, and accommodation and food services (7.8 percent)
- Professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services (6.5 percent)
- Construction (6.1 percent)
- Transportation and warehousing, and utilities (5.6 percent)
- Other services, except public administration (4.8 percent)
- Finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and leasing (4.4 percent)
- Public administration (2.3 percent)
- Wholesale trade (2.3 percent)
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and extraction (1.5 percent)
- Information (0.8 percent)
Education
Schools in Hartselle are part of the Hartselle City School District; the city has three elementary, one junior, and one high school.
Transportation

Events and Places of Interest
Hartselle is home to four municipal parks, a municipal swimming pool, and a civic center. Sparkman Park, an 80-acre complex named for John Sparkman, includes baseball, softball, and soccer fields, basketball courts, an 18-hole golf course, walking trails, and picnic areas and pavilions. It is also home to the Military Order of the Purple Heart Memorial.

Downtown Hartselle is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Hartselle Downtown Commercial Historic District. The area hosts more than 30 antique and gift shops. The city is a stop on the Southern Literary Trail.
Additional Resources
The Heritage of Morgan County, Alabama. Clanton, Ala.: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 1998.
Additional Resources
The Heritage of Morgan County, Alabama. Clanton, Ala.: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 1998.
Knox, John. A History of Morgan County, Alabama. Decatur, Ala.: Morgan County Board of Revenue, 1967.