History:

Knowledge of past human experience in New Hanover Township is essential to aid planners and local officials in molding the future. The following historical analysis is only a general representation of past developments. A more thorough analysis must be left to the historians. However, the historical aspects of planning in the Township are reported to provide the framework by which New Hanover will develop in the coming years.

The first people to inhabit the Upper Perkiomen Valley were the Lenni Lenape Indian tribes. These people were described by William Penn as tall, strong, and sagacious. Because the first settlers lived in peace and harmony with the Indians for many years, William Penn could easily "buy" the Upper Perkiomen area from the native inhabitants in 1684, which became known as Penn's Woods.

The early seventeenth century witnessed the Reformation in Europe in the Thirty Years' War, which ultimately led to persecutions of the Protestants. These events stimulated the migration of the Brethren (Dunkers), Lutherans, members of the Reformed Church, Schwenkfelders, Mennonites, and other "peace" sects to the New World and to Penn's Woods.

Historical events, which strongly influenced the present land use matters of New Hanover date back to this early migration when the Township was part of Hanover Township. This latter community was a section of the Frankfort Land Development Company holdings that encompassed present day Upper Hanover Township, New Hanover Township, Pottsgrove Township, and Pottstown Borough. The German settlers account for the name of the community, a derivation from the Hanover King.