Hardscrabble or Hard Scrabble is land that is rocky or of poor quality, as in the term ''hardscrabble farm''. It is often used as a euphemism for any sort of hard working or poverty, as in ''hardscrabble childhood''. A number of towns use this name: *

Hardscrabble (Harrisburg) Hardscrabble was a small settlement of mostly frame structures in Midtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania from late 18th century to 1924, so named because of its reputation as a rough place. It was bounded by the Susquehanna River to the west, Calder S ...

, Pennsylvania, a former neighborhood in Midtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania * Hardscrabble, California, now

Ione, California Ione ( ) is a city in Amador County, California. The population was 7,918 at the 2010 census, up from 7,129 in 2000. Once known as " Bed-Bug" and "Freeze Out," Ione was an important supply center on the main road to the Mother Lode and Souther ...

Hardscrabble, Colorado Hardscrabble was a settlement established by traders and trappers in the 1840s near the fork of Adobe and Hardscrabble Creeks in present-day Fremont County, Colorado. It was called ''San Buenaventura de los Tres Arrollos''—for three creeks Newlin ...

, an extinct town in Colorado * Hardscrabble, Illinois, now

Streator, Illinois Streator is a city in LaSalle and Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River approximately southwest of Chicago in the prairie and farm land of north-central Illinois. As of the 2020 cens ...

Hardscrabble, Indiana Hardscrabble was a small unincorporated community in Green Township, Madison County, Indiana. As of 1989 it had four houses, and its population was never greater than 16. Geography Hardscrabble is located at the corner of Indiana State Roads ...

, a town in Indiana * Hardscrabble, New York, now

Farmingdale, New York Farmingdale is an incorporated village on Long Island within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York. The population was 8,189 as of the 2010 Census. The Lenox Hills neighborhood is adjacent to Bethpage State Park and the rest of ...

Hardscrabble, Ohio Hardscrabble is a former settlement in Coshocton County, in the U.S. state of Ohio. Hardscrabble was a coal mining site established in 1833, one of the first coal mines in Coshocton County. Further mines at Hardscrabble opened in 1868 and mining ...

* Hardscrabble, Ontario, a village incorporated into the town of Hamilton, Ontario, today's

Cobourg, Ontario Cobourg ( ) is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario east of Toronto and east of Oshawa. It is the largest town in and seat of Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It is ...

, Canada *

Hardscrabble, Virginia Hardscrabble is an unincorporated community in Highland County, Virginia, United States. Hardscabble is located north of Monterey, Virginia near the border with West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic a ...

, an unincorporated community in Highland County, Virginia * Hardscrabble, West Virginia, now

Scrabble, West Virginia Scrabble is an unincorporated community in Berkeley County, West Virginia, United States. According to the Geographic Names Information System, the community has been known as Hard Scrabble, Hard Scrabble Town, and Hardscrabble throughout its ...

* Hardscrabble or Hard Scrabble, Wisconsin, now

Hazel Green (town), Wisconsin Hazel Green is a town in Grant County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,043 at the 2000 census. The Village of Hazel Green is located partially within the town. The unincorporated community of Prairie Corners is located in the town. ...

Hard Scrabble and Snow Town Hard Scrabble (Addison Hollow) and Snow Town were two African American neighborhoods located in Providence, Rhode Island in the nineteenth century. They were also the sites of race riots in which working-class whites destroyed multiple black home ...

, two African-American neighborhoods in 19th-century Providence, Rhode Island *

Hardscrabble Canyon The Wet Mountains are a small mountain range in southern Colorado, named for the amount of snow they receive in the winter as compared to the dried Great Plains to the east. They are a sub-range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, in the southern ...

, in the Wet Mountains, in Colorado *

Hardscrabble Pass Hardscrabble Pass (9,085 ft/2,769 m) is a mountain pass in South-Central Colorado (USA). It lies between the Wet Mountain Valley to the west and the valley of the Arkansas River to the east. The pass traverses the Wet Mountains. State High ...

, in Colorado *

Hardscrabble River Hardscrabble River is the estuary of Wilson Stream, a small river in Washington County, Maine. From its source () in Charlotte, Wilson Stream runs about southeast to Dennys Bay. It changes name to Hardscrabble River at about the point where it i ...

, the estuary of Wilson Stream, a small river in Washington County, Maine

Historic sites

* Hardscrabble, a log cabin built by Ulysses S. Grant, now located at

Grant's Farm Grant's Farm is a historic farm, and long-standing landmark in Grantwood Village, Missouri, built by Ulysses S. Grant on land given to him and his wife by his father in law Frederick Fayette Dent shortly after they became married in 1848. I ...

, Grantwood Village, Missouri *

Hardscrabble (Bahama, North Carolina) Hardscrabble, also known as Pleasant Grove, is a historic plantation home located near Bahama, Durham County, North Carolina. It consists of two houses, one Georgian and one Federal, covered by a common cross-gable roof in the late-19th century ...

, a historic plantation house *

Hardscrabble Farm Hardscrabble Farm is a historic farm property in rural Searsmont, Maine. Located south of its village center at 122 Maine State Route 131, the property features a typical New England connected farmstead with a c. 1840s Greek Revival farmhouse. T ...

, an historic farm property and Greek Revival farmhouse in rural Searsmont, Maine

Other uses

*''Hardscrabble'', a 2012 electronic music album by

The Flashbulb Benn Lee Jordan (born October 28, 1979) is an American musician operating under many pseudonyms. Since 1999, his most widely distributed electronic music has been released under the name of The Flashbulb. Other names Jordan has released as are ...

Hardscrabble Open The Hardscrabble Open, also known as the Hardscrabble Women's Invitation, was a golf tournament played at the Hardscrabble Golf Club in Fort Smith, Arkansas, from 1945 to 1953. It was an official LPGA Tour event from 1948 to 1950. Winners *1953 Be ...

(also known as the Hardscrabble Women's Invitation), a golf tournament played at the Hardscrabble Golf Club (also known as the Hardscrabble Country Club) in Fort Smith, Arkansas from 1945 to 1953; it was an official LPGA Tour event from 1948 to 1950 {{geodis