Hanover was chartered by Governor Benning Wentworth on July 4, 1761, and in
1765–1766 its first European inhabitants arrived, the majority from
Connecticut. Although the surface is uneven, the town developed into an
agricultural community. Dartmouth College was established in 1769 beside the
Common at a village called the Plain—an extensive and level tract of land a
mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Connecticut River, and about 150 feet (46
meters) above it.
At one point in its history, the southwest corner of Hanover was known as
Dresden, which in the 1780s joined other disgruntled New Hampshire towns along
