Hanover is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 14,833 at the 2020 census. The area of Hanover was first inhabited by the local Wampanoag and Massachusett people before Europeans had settled. According to local history, there were a few documented sites being within the modern day border of Hanover, wi…Hanover is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 14,833 at the 2020 census. The area of Hanover was first inhabited by the local Wampanoag and Massachusett people before Europeans had settled. According to local history, there were a few documented sites being within the modern day border of Hanover, with one being in Assinippi, one in Pine Island Swamp, and the last being at Factory Pond, also known as Drinkwater Swamp. In the middle of the 17th century, the indigenous inhabitants were removed by force as waves of people from the British Isles started to migrate towards North America. The last of these natives in Hanover were removed in a small skirmish that occurred at the Factory Pond area in the 1630s. European settlement began when the land was settled by English settlers from Scituate in 1649 when William Barstow, a farmer, built a bridge along the North River at what is now Washington Street. When Barstow settled the town, he constructed a cabin that was located off what is known today as Oakland Avenue. According to Dwelley's History of Hanover, Phineas Pratt of the Wessagusset Colony apparently spent a night crossing the Indian Head or North River in the Hanover/Pembroke area during his difficult journey from what is today Weymouth to Plymouth in 1623. During its first decades of settlement, the land was the westernmost portion of the town of Scituate, and it would officially separate and be incorporated as a town on June 14, 1727. The name "Hanover" is probably a tribute to King George I, the first Hanoverian King of Great Britain. The origin of the name "Hanover/Hannover" however, comes from the Middle Low German ho or hoch meaning high, and over meaning bank or shore.
Save
Share
More