HANOVER, Iowa (KTIV) -
There's a place off the beaten path in Buena Vista County, Iowa that takes visitors back in time. Hanover Historical Village dates back to the 1800s and it has been restored and preserved by some dedicated volunteers.
It was a town that was supposed to be, but never really came to be. In the late 1800s, early settlers had big plans for little Hanover.
"It started out years ago and the railroad was supposed to go through. And it didn't, said Marilyn Hinkeldey, Hanover Village Volunteer.
Without the railroad, there wasn't much traffic and tiny Hanover was never incorporated. But for several years in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Hanover was a center of some degree of commerce.
"The store was the most important and people came from miles around with horse and buggies and did all their shopping. It had farm machinery. It had clothes, groceries and everything," said Hinkeldey.
Hanover Village Volunteer Vernon Winterhof added, "Originally, right south here was a creamery and they bought their whole milk here and separated it and sold the cream and took the skim milk back home for the pigs."
Hanover also featured a barber shop, ice house, feed store and a blacksmith shop that remained in business up until the early 1950s. Eventually though, everyone moved away and Hanover was no more. 15 years ago, several folks who grew up around here decided it was time to restore and preserve the village. Several of the original buildings were still standing, but they had all seen better days.
"It was on its last leg. It really was. The wood was bad and it was just really in bad shape," said Hinkeldey.
Enter hundreds of volunteers and add some state lottery money, move in and reconstruct some old farm buildings and Hanover Village was back on the map!
The Hanover General Store building looks old, and is old, but it actually was still in use as a store as recently as the 1960s.
"On Sunday you'd come down here and you'd pick up lunch meat or you'd pick up a loaf of bread or whatever you wanted to and a lot of people did that, too. And it had gas, so you pumped gas here," said Hinkeldey.
It will never be the bustling town the early pioneers envisioned, but little Hanover Village does have a strong team of supporters who are out to make sure it always has a spot on the map--and in their hearts.
Hanover Historical Village is located at the corner of county roads M-27 and C-65 eight miles southwest of Alta. Tours are available by appointment. You can find a link to contact information here.
The village will also be in the spotlight at the Annual Hanover Festival on Sunday, August 26th from noon to 7:00 p.m. All of the buildings will be open for tours and there will be displays, demonstrations, old time music, games and food. There is an admission charge of $7.50. Kids 14 and younger are free. The festival is their biggest annual fundraiser to pay for upkeep of Hanover Village.
The old store in Hanover, Iowa used to draw people from miles around. Now it's a draw for history buffs.
