Hanover Township is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

Luzerne County Luzerne County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeaste ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,424, making it the most populous township in the county.

History

Hanover Township was one of the original townships laid out by the Susquehanna Company of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. Captain Lazarus Stewart and dozens of his followers moved from Lancaster County into the

Wyoming Valley The Wyoming Valley is a historic industrialized region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The region is historically notable for its influence in helping fuel the American Industrial Revolution with its many anthracite coal mines. As a metropolitan ar ...

in 1770; they fought for Connecticut in the Yankee-Pennamite Wars. For their service to Connecticut, Captain Stewart and his followers were granted a tract of land which became Hanover Township. The community was named after Lazarus Stewart's hometown of Hanover in

Dauphin County Dauphin County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Daffin Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 286,401. The county seat is Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's state capital and ninth-most populous city. ...

, Pennsylvania. In the early 1770s, Captain Lazarus Stewart built the first house in the Breslau section of the township (between

Solomon Creek Solomon Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Fairview Township, Hanover Township, and Wilkes-Barre. The creek is affected by acid mine ...

and the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

). Native American raids were very common in the Wyoming Valley in the 18th century. On July 3, 1778,

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

and

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

forces routed the

Patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...

militia at the

Battle of Wyoming The Battle of Wyoming, also known as the Wyoming Massacre, was a military engagement during the American Revolutionary War between Patriot militia and a force of Loyalist soldiers and Iroquois warriors. The battle took place in the Wyoming Val ...

in present-day

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

. Over two dozen Hanover Township residents were killed in the fight. The original township occupied all the land from

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( , alternatively or ) is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. ...

to Newport Township, and all the land between the

and the

Lehigh River The Lehigh River () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in eastern Pennsylvania. The river flows in a generally southward ...

. In the 19th century, the original township downsized when sections of it broke away to form new municipalities, including townships, boroughs, and cities. In the following decades,

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

became the major industry in and around Hanover Township. Coal breakers were constructed throughout the region. One, in particular, was built in modern-day

Ashley Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsċ'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

; it was known as the Huber Breaker. Following the collapse of the mining industry in

, the breaker was demolished in 2014.

Ashley Planes Ashley Planes was a historic freight cable railroad situated along three separately powered inclined plane sections located between Ashley, Pennsylvania at the foot, and via the Solomon cutting the yard in Mountain Top over above and initially ...

, a historic freight

cable railroad A cable railway is a railway that uses a cable, rope or chain to haul trains. It is a specific type of cable transportation. The most common use for a cable railway is to move vehicles on a steeply graded line that is too steep for conventional ...

in Hanover and Fairview Townships, was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1980.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the township has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.82%, is water. The

drains the municipality and separates it from Larksville Borough, Plymouth Borough, and Plymouth Township. The north side of the township — near the river — is mainly low-lying ( above sea level); most of the township's homes and businesses reside in the northern and central portions of the township. The southern portion of the municipality is mountainous, rising to at the summit of Haystack Mountain on the southeast border. The township lies directly between the cities of

and Nanticoke. The main thoroughfares in Hanover Township are the

South Cross Valley Expressway Pennsylvania Route 29 (PA 29) is a north–south state highway that runs through most of eastern Pennsylvania. The route currently has a southern and northern segment. The southern segment runs from U.S. Route 30 (US 30) near Malvern nort ...

( PA 29), the four-lane Sans Souci Parkway (locally pronounced "San Suey"), and the two-lane South Main Street. The former connects

I-81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Isla ...

in the southeast with U.S. 11 in West Nanticoke which connects Wilkes-Barre and Nanticoke. I-81 and PA 309 provide access to Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre Township, and

Scranton Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

. In the northern portion of the community, the Carey Ave Bridge, also known as the 1st Battalion, 109th Field Artillery Pennsylvania Army National Guard Bridge. crosses the

, linking Hanover Township to Plymouth and Larksville. Hanover's 12 villages are Askam, Breslau, Buttonwood, Dundee, Hanover Green, Iona, Korn Krest, Lee Park, Lower Askam, Lyndwood, Newtown, and Preston. The township is part of Hanover Area School District, which is located in central Luzerne County.

Neighboring municipalities

(northeast) * Larksville (north) *

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

(north) * Plymouth Township (northwest) * Nanticoke (west) * Newport Township (southwest) * Nuangola (southwest) * Rice Township (south) * Fairview Township (southeast) * Bear Creek Township (southeast) * Laurel Run (east) * Wilkes-Barre Township (east) Three boroughs,

, Sugar Notch, and Warrior Run, are surrounded by Hanover Township.

Climate

The township has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfa''/''Dfb'') and the

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

is 6a except in Dundee, where it is 6b. Average monthly temperatures in Askam range from 26.3 °F in January to 71.8 °F in July.

Government

Hanover Township is governed by a board of seven commissioners. The following is a list of current board members: * George L. Andrejko,

vice-chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

* Albert J. Bagusky * George W. Bowers * Russell P. Davis,

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

* William L. Howatt * Ronald Krushnowski * Jeffrey P. Lewis

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 11,488 people, 4,951 households, and 3,153 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 5,338 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 98.08%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.96%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.02% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.12% from other races, and 0.64% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.60% of the population. There were 4,951 households, out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.3% were non-families. 32.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29, and the average family size was 2.90. In the township the population was spread out, with 22.0% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.1 males. The median income for a household in the township was $30,043, and the median income for a family was $37,883. Males had a median income of $29,679, versus $21,691 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the township was $16,181. About 12.2% of families and 15.3% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 23.0% of those under age 18 and 13.9% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Hanover Township is served by the

Luzerne County Transportation Authority The Luzerne County Transportation Authority (LCTA) is the operator of mass transportation in the city of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and portions of surrounding Luzerne County. Services provided by the LCTA replaced previously offered services of ...

. The bus routes include: *Route 13 (Wilkes-Barre, Ashley, and Sugar Notch) *Routes 14 and 15 (Wilkes-Barre and Nanticoke) *Route 22 (Wilkes-Barre and Plymouth)

Gallery

Warrior Creek looking upstream.jpg, Warrior Creek, Hanover Township Warrior Creek looking downstream.jpg, Warrior Creek, Hanover Township Nanticoke Creek 2.jpg,

Nanticoke Creek Nanticoke Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Hanover Township and Nanticoke. The watershed of the creek has an area of . The creek ...

, Hanover Township

References

External links

* {{authority control Populated places established in 1772 Townships in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania