The first person to settle within the current boundaries of the town of Hanover, Indiana, was Williamson Dunn. He came to the area in 1808, liked what he saw, and went to Jeffersonville to record a quarter section in his name. In the fall of 1809, he and his wife and two small children, as well as three slaves whom he freed, came to Indiana from Kentucky to occupy their new home. The log cabin which Dunn built is located one block south of Main Street on the south east corner of locust and first streets.

                The first church in Dunn’s settlement was organized on March 4, 1820 (Presbyterian) with 23 charter members. The church was named the Hanover church after the hometown of the first pastor’s wife. Subsequently, the town, college, and township adopted the name. The town was called South Hanover until 1861, since there was another Hanover in Shelby County.

                There was no building in which Hanover Presbyterians could worship at first, but two years after the church was founded; the old stone church was built. It was located on the site of the present shelter house in the old town park. This building was later used to house the grammar school. It also housed classes for Hanover Academy and the Indiana Seminary.

                There were two other buildings erected in Hanover in the 1820s. One was the John Finley Crowe House. Crowe came to Hanover from Shelbyville Kentucky as the second pastor of the Presiterian church. The second building was a log cabin that was once part of the J and J antique shop on the north east corner of Main and Main Cross. It was first occupied by Smiley Sample.

                The large college building was built in 1832 to house the Hanover Academy. The building was called the College Edifice. This building is now the Presbyterian church. The college’s first president was Dr. James Blythe. Only boys were emitted to Hanover in the days. Girls were not officially enrolled until 1880.

                The town began to blossom in the early 1900’s when a bank was built and Halterbaum’s Ice-cream parlor, a confectionary store. IN 1911, Henry Lee built the first grocery store; the west end of the confectionary store eventually became the site of the first movie house in town. Electricity came to Hanover in 1917 when James Reed was successful in his negotiations with the Light and Railway Company. Water was first pumped into Hanover in 1918 when it was first pumped to the college campus. It was not until 1931 that it was pumped to the town of Hanover itself. The first water tower was built in 1939 with the second tower being built in 1970. The first fire department was first organized in 1932.