The Hartland Academy, originally known as St. Albans Academy as the building was located in St. Albans, was created in 1832. The original building, a 1-1/2-story wooden structure which was moved to accommodate the building of a new brick edifice, was situated on the northerly side of Academy Street near the current St. Albans town line.

The original brick academy building was completed in 1856 at a cost of $3500. The bricks used to build it were manufactured in Hartland. It consisted of two full stories plus an attic, where basketball was played in later years. Latin, Greek, arithmetic and rhetoric were part of the curriculum.

The original academy building burned in 1923, but was immediately rebuilt. It served as a high school until 1968, then as a middle school, later as town office and home to the Hartland Historical Society. The building is currently vacant.