Hanover, Pennsylvania

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www.borough.hanover.pa.us/

www.hanoverchamber.com/

www.city-data.com/city/Hanover-Pennsylvania.html

Hanover is a borough in York County, in the York-Hanover metro area.
The community was named for the city in Germany. The estimated population, in 2003, was 14,835. Hanover is on the Maryland border. Former and merged names include:
· Hickory Town
· McAllister's Town
Civil War battle was fought here in 1863.
45% of Hanover residents report German ancestry, and 12% report Irish.

Hanover History

In 1727, John Digges obtained a land grant from Lord Calvert of Baltimore. Today part of the borough of Hanover is situated on this land; the original tract also included property in Maryland. This instigated numerous disputes over borders and led to the necessity of establishing the Mason-Dixon line, recognized by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of Maryland in 1755.

Around 1753, Richard McAllister, a Scotch-Irish innkeeper settled in the area. In 1763 he plotted the town and named the four major roads in honor of the towns to which they led. He also designated a spring on West Chestnut St. as the town water source and laid out the commons, to be used as a grazing area for animals and drilling for the local militia. The first church, the German Reformed Church, was built on York St. in 1776. The log structure contained a bell imported from Germany. The first blast furnace west of the Susquehanna was opened on Black Rock Rd. around the same time. Iron ore mined from the John Bowman farm and charcoal from the Pigeon Hills were used to manufacture stoves, kettles, skillets, and during the American Revolution cannon balls and other war supplies.

In 1783 The Neas House was built by Mathias Neas who operated a tannery across from his house. Hanover's first newspaper "Die Pennsylvania Wochenschrift" was published in German in 1797. In 1805, the "Hanover Gazette" followed suit, also published in German. The town of Hanover, named after Hannover, Germany, was incorporated in 1815. Many of the settlers were of German origin; in fact, by 1818 only 3-4 families of English ancestry were found among a population of 946. The early part of the nineteenth century saw the addition of a central market house, fire-fighting unit, and street improvement.