Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Hanover

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Hanover

Hanover’s post office opened in 1892, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1937 on.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Hanover began

When was Hanover founded?

1892

The Hanover post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 144134 years
Founding year: the first Hanover post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Hanover’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Hanover are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hanover’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hanover’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Hanover, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hanover yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Hanover is a census-designated place in Grant County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, Hanover had a population of 144. Hanover has a post office with ZIP code 88041. New Mexico State Road 152 and New Mexico State Road 356 pass through the community. The town was named after the local Hanover Mines. Sofio Henkel, one of the original settlers, came from Hanover, Germany, in 1841 and mined until 1843, when he was driven away by Apaches.

Its first post office opened in 1892. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 167 to 144 (-14%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Hanover on the map, 1937 to 1992

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hanover. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Hanover on the 1937 USGS mapHanover on the 1948 USGS mapHanover on the 1951 USGS mapHanover on the 1992 USGS map1937Santa Rita sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hanover.

Famous people

Famous people close to Hanover

Nobody well known was born in Hanover itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Paul BenedictAmerican actor · b. 1938
Elisa QuintanaAmerican astronomer · b. 1973
James TenneyAmerican composer and music theorist · b. 1934
L
Leslie GravesAmerican actress · b. 1959
Karen ShepherdUnited States Congresswoman from Utah · b. 1940
Howie MoralesLieutenant Governor of New Mexico since 2019 · b. 1973
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Hanover’s post office has been open since 1892.

Gone or out of use
Empire Number 7 ShaftmineLarsh ShaftmineMason TunnelminePrincess ShaftmineRobert E Lee and Santa Fe Minemine
1cemetery inside Hanover
Cemetery Number 5

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Hanover’s history

What year was Hanover founded?

The Hanover post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.