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DHistory
History · Hanover Township

Half of Hanover Township’s homes were built after 1973

More historic than 7% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Hanover Township was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1894 on.

0on the National Register
0.3%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hanover Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Hanover Township’s history

How historic is Hanover Township?

D

More historic than 7% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Hanover Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hanover Township is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hanover Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19400.3% of homes (±0.5) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical PA town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 7%
NewerOlder

Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Hanover Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Hanover Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18947 editions of the USGS map, 1894 to 1992. Watch Hanover Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hanover Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHanover Junction, Pennsylvania--1863--H…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Hanover Township on the map, 1894 to 1992

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

Hanover Township on the 1894 USGS mapHanover Township on the 1939 USGS mapHanover Township on the 1957 USGS mapHanover Township on the 1964 USGS mapHanover Township on the 1972 USGS mapHanover Township on the 1983 USGS mapHanover Township on the 1992 USGS map1894Allentown sheet · 1:62,500

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

The story so far

Hanover Township, in brief

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

Hanover Township is a township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2010 census, the township had a population of 1,571. It is a suburb of Allentown and Bethlehem and part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census. Hanover Township is home of Lehigh Valley International Airport, the fourth-largest airport in Pennsylvania, with 851,000 passengers annually as of 2020.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,571 to 1,689 (+8%).

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

Timeline

Hanover Township, 1858 to 1894

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Lehigh Valley post office opens
  3. 1863In the archiveHanover Junction, Pennsylvania--1863--Hanover Junction Railroad Station (detail of locomo…
  4. 1871Post officeThe Lehigh Valley post office closes
  5. 1894On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hanover Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s4 items
Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania--1863--Hanover Junction Railroad Station (detail of locomotive and crowd)1863Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania--1863--Hanover Junctio…Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania, 18631863Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania, 1863Hanover Junction Pennsylvania, 1863, railroad yards. Detail of tracks, engine, boxcar, and crowd1863Hanover Junction Pennsylvania, 1863, railroad yards. …Hanover Junction Pennsylvania, 1863, railroad station. Detail of engine in yard and waiting crowd1863Hanover Junction Pennsylvania, 1863, railroad station…
Today14 recent
Bradley Moutnain2019Bradley MoutnainSchoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 102015Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 10Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 092015Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 09Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 082015Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 08Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 072015Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 07Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 062015Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 06Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 052015Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 05Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 042015Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 04Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 032015Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 03Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 022015Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 02Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 012015Schoenersville Cemetery, Hanover Twp, Lehigh Co PA 01Hanover Twp Municipal Bldg, Lehigh Co PA 022015Hanover Twp Municipal Bldg, Lehigh Co PA 02Hanover Twp Municipal Bldg, Lehigh Co PA 012015Hanover Twp Municipal Bldg, Lehigh Co PA 01Lehigh county2014Lehigh county
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania--1863--Hanover Junction Railroad Station (detail of locomotive and crowd)
Retake this viewHanover Junction, Pennsylvania--1863--Hanover Junction Railroad Station (detail of locomotive and crowd), 1863

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hanover Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Hanover Township

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

See all →
Amanda SeyfriedAmerican actress · b. 1985
Lil PeepAmerican rapper · b. 1996
Dane DeHaanAmerican actor · b. 1986
H.D.American Imagist poet · b. 1886
Keith JarrettAmerican jazz/classical pianist and composer · b. 1945
Lee IacoccaAmerican businessman · b. 1924
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Another post office, Lehigh Valley, opened and closed inside today’s town.

4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hanover Township
Cedar Hill Memorial ParkChrist ChurchGethsemane Cemetery of Saint MarysSaint Andrews Episcopal Church

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Catasauqua3 historic placesA+Bethlehem22 historic placesA+Fullerton2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWhitehall Township5 historic placesAAllentown16 historic placesA+

Questions about Hanover Township’s history

How does Hanover Township rank for history?

Hanover Township is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Hanover Township?

0.3% of Hanover Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1973.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (14), the Library of Congress (4), 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.