The story
Read it all →How New Hanover Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of New Hanover Township.
New Hanover Township is a portion of the original Hanover Township.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · New Hanover Township
New Hanover Township dates to 1741, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #413 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of New Hanover Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1997. Its Register listing is the Long Meadow Farm. Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1930.
1741founded
1on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Quick answers
How New Hanover Township began
When was New Hanover Township founded?
1741
New Hanover Township dates its founding to 1741 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1930.
First census: 1,467 in 19302020 census: 12,973285 years
How historic is New Hanover Township?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1829.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives New Hanover Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Hanover Township is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #413 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of New Hanover Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1741, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 19407.5% of homes (±4.2) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 1.5 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 74%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 60%
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 New Hanover Township’s 1.5 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1741.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.2 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). 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 New Hanover Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s New Hanover Township, and 7 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of New Hanover Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19026 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1990. Watch New Hanover Township change.Older than the countryEstablished in 1741, 35 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
New Hanover
Fagleysville
Pleasant Run
Anise
Layfield
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AniseFagleysvilleHoffmansvilleLayfieldNew HanoverNew Hanover SquarePleasant Run
Gone or out of use
New Hanover Airportairport
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside New Hanover Township
Falkner SwampFalkner Swamp Reformed ChurchNew Hanover LutheranSaint Pauls Lutheran Church Cemetery - North
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start New Hanover Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how New 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.On the map
New Hanover Township on the map, 1902 to 1990
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Hanover Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Boyertown sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of New Hanover Township.
Timeline
New Hanover Township, 1741 to 1934
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 18th century
- 1741FoundingNew Hanover Township is established
- 1776Born hereJohn Hahn is born here
- 19th century
- 1829Post officeThe New Hanover post office opens
- 1830
Born hereJohn Frederick Hartranft is born here - 1845Born hereJacob Zern is born here
- 1858Post officeThe Fagleysville post office opens
- 1859Post officeThe Pleasant Run post office opens
- 20th century
- 1902
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1904Post officeThe Pleasant Run post office closes
- 1915Post officeThe Fagleysville post office closes
- 1934Post officeThe New Hanover post office closes
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 albumOn the National Register
1 historic place in New Hanover Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Long Meadow Farm
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Germanic1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
New Hanover Township, census by census
Grew from 1,467 people in 1930 to 12,973 in 2020, 8 times over.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Hanover Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →3 famous people were born in New Hanover Township
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Douglass TownshipIts storyBUpper Frederick Township5 historic placesA−Lower Pottsgrove Township2 historic placesB−Pottsgrove1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUpper Pottsgrove TownshipIts storyC−Upper Hanover TownshipIts storyC+GilbertsvilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLimerick Township2 historic placesA−
Questions about New Hanover Township’s history
What year was New Hanover Township founded?
In 1741, according to Wikidata. New Hanover Township’s post office opened in 1829, and the census of 1930 counted 1,467 people here.
How does New Hanover Township rank for history?
New Hanover Township is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #413 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 New Hanover Township?
One place: the Long Meadow Farm (listed 1973).
How old are the homes in New Hanover Township?
8% of New Hanover Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1997.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.