Hart is in
Oceana County (of which it is the county seat), and in the
West-Southwest Region. Hart is located northwest of
Grand Rapids between
Ludington and
Whitehall along US Highway 31 near the shores of
Lake Michigan and Silver and Crystal lakes.
Hart was pioneered by several early settlers, including Nelson Grove, the first to arrive in 1856. Another early settler was Wellington Hart, whom the township was named after a couple of years later. The town was incorporated into a village in 1885, later as a city in 1946.