On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hanover Township is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #375 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hanover Township’s overall grade.
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 0.9 sits near the middle of its state (53% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 points).
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.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Hanover Township on the map, 1891 to 1990
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hanover Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1891Wilkes-Barre 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.
In 1727, John Digges, an Irish nobleman of Prince George's County, Maryland, obtained a grant of 10,000 acres (40 km2) of land where Hanover is now located from Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore. The area was called Digges Choice, and in 1730, a group of Catholics started the settlement that became known as the Conewego Settlement. Settlers from both Maryland and Pennsylvania began moving into the area in the 1730s. At this time, Maryland and Pennsylvania did not agree on the northern border of Maryland and the southern border of Pennsylvania, and the area that is now Hanover was in the disputed area claimed by both states. This led to numerous disputes about property ownership from the 1730s until 1760. The dispute was settled when Maryland and Pennsylvania hired British expert surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon to survey what became known as the Mason–Dixon line. This line …
Passages that mention Hanover Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Wilkes-Barré, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time1909 · page 1110Read the page →
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1778, but did not get there — as is explained on page 1018. Later he served in the detachment of Westmoreland militia commanded by Lieut Col. Zebulon Butler, as noted on page 1096. Between the years 1790 and 1800 the Town Committee of Hanover leased to Richard Inman part of public lots Nob. 80 and 81 in Hanover Township — "to hold on lease simple as long as wood grows and water runs." The rental to be "one bushel of wheat to be paid every twenty-fifth of December into the town treasury." Prior to 1809 Richard and Israel Inman built a very substantial grist-mill at the foot of Solomon's Falls, in Hanover Township. In 1812 Richard Inman became the sole proprietor of the mill, and operated it from about 1817 till his death in 1831. Richard Inman was married to
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A history of Wilkes-Barré, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania1909 · page 160Read the page →
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Hanover Township, in 1796, had ninety-one "taxables," these heads of families probably being widely spread over the township. However, there was much activity along the stream that is known as Nanticoke Creek, but which Plumb, in his "History of Hanover Township," refers to by many other names — Lee's, Miller's, Robins, Bobbs, Rummage, and Warrior Run Creek.
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A history of Wilkes-Barré, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania1909 · page 117Read the page →
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than could be logically attempted in any general Luzerne County work such as this is. Hanover Township is worthy of more space here, but the space is not available, so brevity must govern this review. The pioneers in Hanover Township had already made history in southern Pennsylvania. Among the settlers were strong-minded self-reliant men of Scotch-Irish antecedents, men who, in the time of Indian unrest that followed the French and Indian War, had relied more upon themselves than upon the government for protection. The "Paxton boys," of Lancaster County, had
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Hanover Township, 1837 to 1924
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Hanover Township is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #375 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. 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.
What is on the National Register in Hanover Township?
One place: the Ashley Planes (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Hanover Township?
26% of Hanover Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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