Exploring Hanover’s Main Street

Main Street

Main Street, Hanover, New Hampshire

 

Overview

A view of the green and Hanover from Dartmouth's Baker bell tower, taken around 1920. Notice how limited Hanover is beyond the college, showing the town's reliance on the college. Source: Rauner Digital Archives at the Dartmouth College Library

A view of the green and Hanover from Dartmouth’s Baker bell tower, taken around 1920. Notice how limited Hanover is beyond the college, showing the town’s reliance on the college. Source: Rauner Digital Archives at the Dartmouth College Library

Hanover, New Hampshire is a quintessential diamond in the rough. Located along the picturesque border of New Hampshire and Vermont, the Connecticut River, Hanover is a rural town surrounded by gorgeous villages, mountains, rivers, and lakes. Located in the region of New Hampshire and Vermont fondly known as “The Upper Valley”, Hanover is the cultural hub of a large region. Though its downtown and population are relatively small, sitting at a total population of roughly 11,000 residents, the town has grown and succeeded on the back of its key resident: Dartmouth College. Chartered in 1761, the town began based on agriculture before transitioning and growing as Dartmouth gained prominence. Upon entering Hanover today the distinction between the town and the college will become evident, as Wheelock Street almost perfectly divides the two entities, with Dartmouth to the north and Hanover to the south. Though geographically separated, barring a few overlaps, the relationship between the college and town is long and significant, as neither would be possible without the other. Very generally, Hanover exists and thrives because of Dartmouth and the benefits that an elite educational institution bring.

 


Coming To Hanover

Dartmouth (Baker Library) from Wheelock St.

Dartmouth College (Baker Library) from Wheelock St.

A visit to Hanover is a trip through contrasts. Entry into Hanover from any direction presents surprises that would not have been expected based upon the town’s surrounding regions.

From the South

To the south of Hanover is the town of Lebanon, New Hampshire. Lebanon, including the village of West Lebanon, is more of a blue collar industrial town, lacking the wealth of Hanover, an Ivy League college town that caters to an upscale culture of academics, students and doctors, as shown the main street’s expensive shops and restaurants. The high schools of these two distinct towns have played out a spirited rivalry, enhanced by notions of class disparity. Entering Hanover from the south on New Hampshire Route 10 takes you from the village of West Lebanon, which also serves as the region’s center for large-scale shopping, to the south end of Hanover’s main street. Driving north on Route 120 that takes you from downtown Lebanon takes you by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, one of the state’s premier hospitals and one of the region’s key places of employment.

Hanover and it’s surrounding area (Courtesy of Google Maps, click here for link)

From the North

Entering Hanover from the north on Route 10 from Lyme, New Hampshire brings a contrast between rural life and the benefits of population. The towns above Hanover on both sides of the river, such as Lyme and Orford, New Hampshire and Thetford and Fairlee, Vermont, are small, quaint New England towns that have traditionally based their ways of life around agriculture. Hanover, meanwhile, takes on the role of being the cultural center for a radius of around an hour of driving time in every direction. The arts and metropolitanism that being a college town brings are not found in the rural regions that surround Hanover. Also notice the farming in these towns, as their production partly fuels the consumption of Hanover’s restaurants and college.

From the West

Coming from the west and Norwich, Vermont brings both the contrast of states and similar contrasts between rural life and life in a larger town. Though New Hampshire and Vermont share many characteristics, there are many differences between the states. For example, much of the Upper Valley’s shopping is done in New Hampshire because of New Hampshire’s lack of a sales tax. This stems from other ideological differences, as Vermont tends to be more progressive than New Hampshire. Coming from the west also portrays a different side of the rural areas that surround Hanover. Many times on Interstate 91, the primary reason for entering Hanover from the west, it seems as if you are in the middle of nowhere. Stretches of the highway feel like complete isolation, as exits are as much as 15 miles apart and traffic is often minimal. Exiting in Norwich and crossing the Ledyard Bridge into Hanover feels similar to a desert oasis, as arrival in Hanover is a journey from relatively isolated wilderness to a bustling college town.

 


Main Street

Restaurants

Perhaps the most notable area of Hanover other than the college is Main Street. With its wide variety of shops and restaurants, downtown Hanover represents a landscape largely engaged in consumption.  A trip to Lou’s Bakery and Restaurant at 30 Main St reveals the relationships between the town, the college, and the people. Inside, the walls are covered with old pictures from the mid-19th century of the townspeople and presumably college students. Coupled with the classic rock playing in the background, the décor gives Lou’s a 20th century diner feel. The ambience attracts not only locals, but alumni and prospective students. Similarly, Molly’s on 43 Main St showcases relics of Dartmouth’s past which give the restaurant the same Dartmouth ambience. As a result, the two restaurants advertise Dartmouth to prospective students and remind alumni of their time at school. Lou’s even means so much to the Dartmouth student body that it has its own “Lou’s challenge.” The goal for the students is to stay awake all night and celebrate their successful all-nighter by eating breakfast at Lou’s when it opens. Students often do this in groups of friends when have a long night of studying ahead of them and want to make it a memory.

While Lou’s provides a taste of Dartmouth College, however, its food offers a taste of local farms. They obtain most of their ingredients from small farms in the Upper Valley, which fuels small-scale farming and coincides with their support of small family businesses (The farms are listed at the end). They advocate these businesses through selling advertisement space in their placemats.

Courtesy of mwms1916

Lou’s Restaurant and Bakery

These popular restaurants, along with the diversity of ethnic restaurants along branches of Main Street, demonstrate the variety of people who visit Hanover. The people that Dartmouth brings in have different backgrounds and come from all over the world, and the food spots in downtown Hanover reflect their presence. They live here as residents and visit as prospective families. Morano Gelato, for example, serves the delicious Italian delicacy gelato. Sushi Ya boasts an appetizing mix of Japanese and Korean cuisines. Thai Orchid is a popular Thai restaurant with a wonderful fried rice. For students of these ethnicities, these restaurants can provide a taste of home, and for everyone else they offer tasty dining options.

Other Points of Interest

Small stores dominate the northern end of Main Street, but the influx of larger franchises is present towards the southern end. There are both a Starbucks and a Dunkin’ Donuts to satisfy customers’ caffeine cravings. At 63 Main St, there is a North Face to keep students and locals warm during the winter and to provide gear for their outing adventures. Furthermore, there is a CVS at the very end of Main Street for any pharmaceutical needs.  Although Hanover is mostly oriented with small stores, the influence and power of larger chains is evident.

Courtesy of Sarah Katzenell

Looking towards the west side of main street

Also interesting on Hanover’s Main Street is Ledyard Bank. Opened in 1991, Ledyard was designed to be a community bank, countering the trend of smaller banks being overtaken by larger, national banks. Interestingly, though, you will notice that Ledyard looks and feels like a classic and historical bank. This is partly as a result of its elegant name and logo, but also because of the upscale and classical architecture of its Main Street branch and headquarters. This is also representative of Hanover’s Main Street as a whole, as the downtown has kept a classical feel through brick store fronts and avoidance of most chain stores and restaurants.

Finally, part of the Dartmouth College campus can be accessed from one of Main Street’s side roads, Lebanon St. Along this street, seemingly out of place in a small town, exist the back of the Hopkins Center and the Black Visual Arts Center. Their presence blurs the line between the college and the town and shows the kind of influence that Dartmouth has to be able to encroach upon downtown Hanover. Across the road is a recently Dartmouth-owned apartment building, which the college intended to rent out to other businesses. These buildings warrant a consideration of how far the college will develop into the town and how that will affect their relationship.

 


Farms which sell to Lou’s

MacNamara Dairy

Vermont Creamery

Cabot Creamery Cooperative

LaPanciatta Bread

Goose and Willies Bagels

Robie Farm

North Country Smokehouse

Vermont Smoke and Cure

Bascom Road Farm

Black River Produce

Champlain Orchards

Misty Knoll Farms

Lafayette Farms

Lyme Farm