What Hanover Used to Be, and What Still Endures

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This week’s issue is about what lasts.

Not what’s trendy. Not what’s loud. Not what’s optimized for clicks. The things that survive because people keep showing up for them, year after year.

Inside, you’ll find a reflection on downtown Hanover, a reminder that we once had a roller coaster (yes, really), and the story of a small log cabin that keeps reappearing every December because this town refuses to let it go.

As always, thank you to this week’s sponsors: Riverside, Google AdSense, and MEDVi. Clicking their links directly supports this newsletter and helps keep local stories, events, and history circulating where they belong, right here at home.

Always,
Megan 💜

Heart of Hanover exists because a small group of people decided this town was worth investing in.

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Lately, I’ve seen a lot of people sharing their frustration with downtown Hanover. Most of them are lifelong residents. They miss what it used to be. The stores. The energy. The feeling of community that once lived there.

If I’m being honest, I don’t have those memories.

Not from childhood. Not from my teenage years. Not even from early adulthood. I didn’t start spending real time downtown until after 2020. I’m 39, born in 1986, which means I grew up during the era when the North Hanover Mall had already cemented itself as Hanover’s retail hub. Downtown simply wasn’t where you went. Shopping, socializing, and wandering happened elsewhere.

So when people talk about what downtown “used to be,” my brain doesn’t go to nostalgia. It goes to context.

Then I think about my Pap.

He used to tell me stories about coming into town as a kid during the Great Depression, walking downtown to pick up a Sears catalog. Not to order anything. They couldn’t afford to. They used it as toilet paper in their outhouse. Hanover didn’t even get a Sears store until 1967, but the story stuck anyway. Because it wasn’t really about Sears. It was about downtown being the place you went. The place where life happened.

Downtown Hanover had department stores and specialty shops that weren’t about trends. They were about function and familiarity.

Shopping downtown meant interaction. You were pulled into community whether you wanted it or not. And somehow, we were better at it then.

That’s part of why this newsletter exists. You don’t build community by dismissing people’s frustration. You build it by listening. If enough people are saying, “This doesn’t feel like it used to,” that’s worth paying attention to.

So I did some digging.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth. Downtown Hanover has changed, and not for the better. But that isn’t because Hanover failed. It’s because Hanover followed the same path as countless American towns.

As the population grew, development pushed outward. Retail followed the people. We got the Clearview Shopping Center, the North Hanover Shopping Center, and eventually the enclosed North Hanover Mall. Convenience won. Downtown lost foot traffic.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the square was reworked to improve traffic flow. The roundabout disappeared. Stoplights went in. Downtown slowly shifted from a place you lingered to a place you passed through.

With fewer shops and more cars, we didn’t just lose businesses. We lost shared space. We lost the casual, everyday interactions that quietly stitch a town together.

The mall filled that gap for a while. Until it didn’t. Earlier this year, it was condemned due to lack of upkeep. That story isn’t unique to Hanover. Malls across America have been fading under the weight of online shopping and changing habits.

All of this can feel inevitable. Out of our hands.

But here’s the part I’m not willing to accept. That community itself is gone for good.

If we’ve lost third spaces, then we have to create new ones. Maybe they don’t look like department stores or malls. Maybe they look like cafés, art walks, libraries, markets, shared tables, and places where people are allowed to exist without spending much money.

Do I have a neat solution today? No.

What I do have is curiosity, a deep love for this town, and a commitment to exploring what comes next with you.

This conversation isn’t finished. It’s just getting started.

Lydian Stone | Pints & PJs Christmas Party | 11 AM – 10 PM
The Avalon Ale House | Rickhouse Speakeasy | 11 AM – 10 PM
The Avalon Ale House | Santa’s Coming | 5 PM – 7 PM
Aldus Brewing | Faded Denim | 7 PM
Church of Satire Comedy Club | The Confessional Show | 8 PM – 10:30 PM
The Bourbon Mill | Six Whiskey Revival | 8 PM
The Circle | Bjorn Jacobsen | 8 PM
The Hotel Hanover | Karaoke | 9 PM – 1 AM

The Circle | Sunday Brunch | 11 AM
The Avalon Ale House | Rickhouse Speakeasy | 11 AM – 9 PM
The Bourbon Mill | Half Serious | 1 PM– 4 PM
The Bourbon Mill | Holiday Karaoke | 6 PM – 9 PM

Fat Bat Brewing | Sip & Wrap | 4:30 PM – 10 PM
Sign of the Horse Brewery | Euchre League | 6 PM – 9 PM
The Circle | Christmas Trivia with Jen | 7 PM
Church of Satire Comedy Club | Open Mic Night | 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

The Avalon Ale House | Dual FX Trivia | 6 PM – 9 PM
The Circle | Music Bingo with Jen | 6 PM
Fat Bat Brewing | Trivia Night | 7 PM – 9 PM

Avalon Ale House | AYCE Wings & Fries | 4 PM – 10 PM
The Avalon Ale House | Rickhouse Speakeasy | 4 PM – 10 PM
Bair’s Den | Music Bingo | 6 PM – 9 PM
Divino Pizzeria | Trivia Night | 6 PM – 9 PM
The Bourbon Mill | Beginner Line Dancing | 7 PM – 10:30 PM
The Circle | Open | 3 PM – 12 AM

The Circle | Open | 6 PM – 2 AM

Here are this week’s featured events in and around town. If you’d like your event spotlighted, email [email protected].

🎲 18+ Game Night @ Rainbow Rose Center
🕖 7 PM to 9 PM | 📍 Eteam Community Space, 228 E Chestnut St, Hanover

Looking for a low-pressure way to get out of the house and meet new people? Rainbow Rose Center hosts a monthly 18+ game night every third Saturday, featuring classics and strategy favorites like Ticket to Ride, Monopoly, Catan, Clank!, Unfair, and Risk.

Come solo or bring a friend. No experience required, just a willingness to play and hang out for a bit.

🕯️ Restorative (Candlelit) Winter Solstice @ Life In Balance Yoga
🕟 4:30 PM – 6 PM | 📍 129 Broadway
💵 $25 | 🎫 Register here

A candlelit, 90-minute restorative class with breathwork and fully supported poses, designed to help you slow down and reset during the holiday season. Accessible for all bodies.

💃 Jingle & Mingle ZUMBA @ North Hanover YMCA
🕕 6 PM – 7 PM | 📍 500 George Street

A festive, high-energy Zumba party to kick off the holiday week. Free for members and non-members. Bring a canned good, wear your most cheerful outfit, and come ready to move.

🩸 Hanover Community Blood Drive @ Bruster’s Real Ice Cream
🕛 12 PM – 5 PM | 📍 1035 George Street
🎫 Schedule an appointment or call 1-800-771-0059

Donate blood and receive two free admission vouchers to the Pennsylvania Auto Show, a free pint of Bruster’s ice cream, and a blood donor T-shirt. Appointments are recommended, walk-ins welcome as space allows.

🕯️ Christmas Eve Community Candlelight Service @ The Eich
🕖 7 PM – 8 PM | 📍 195 Stock Street, Suite 200

A community Christmas Eve gathering featuring candlelight, carols, and live music. All are welcome. Bring friends, neighbors, and family.

Stay home & celebrate with family!

If any of the stories in this issue stirred a memory, sparked a conversation, or made you look at Hanover a little differently, that’s the work doing its job.

Forward this to someone who loves this town, or who might need a reminder that it’s still worth caring about.

I’ll see you around town.

XoXo - Megan 💜

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