What is it like to live in Hanover?
Resident Judy Grecco says she isn’t crazy about cities and loves the town of Hanover’s country feel.
Judy Grecco can’t exactly call herself a lifelong Hanover resident: She was born in Whitman, after all, and lived there for a month.
Grecco’s father had grown up in Hanover, but her parents were building a home on East Street when she was born. They moved in when she was only 1 month old. “So I’ve lived in Hanover for quite a while,’’ she said with a laugh.
Her grandparents lived only two doors down in the home where she now resides with her husband, Joe (who moved to town when he was 5), and where they raised two daughters. Both still live in town, and each has one son.
What keeps them in Hanover? Grecco, 68, who works part time for a commission that oversees the North River, confesses she’s “not crazy about cities’’ and appreciates its country feel. As a member of the town’s Open Space Committee, “I have walked all the trails in Hanover. It’s something you can do for free. I like the outdoors, and I like the variety,’’ she said.
And while changes over the decades, like the arrival of the Hanover Mall in 1971 (“We thought we were in the big city when the mall came’’), have modernized the town, Grecco appreciates the “old-fashioned’’ downtown, including the public library, Town Hall, several churches, and the Stetson House Museum.
“Growing up, you don’t think about what’s always been in your town,’’ she said. “That’s why I like the historic center of town. There’s a lot of preservation happening there.’’
Judy Grecco and her husband, Joe, live in Hanover.
BY THE NUMBERS
30
The number of ships built on the North River in 1801. The town was a major industrial center at the time. Its forges produced anchors for the Navy and are said to have supplied the anchor for the USS Constitution.
3,058
The number of calls the Fire Department responded to in 2015, reportedly the busiest calendar year in the department’s history
1727
year Hanover was incorporated; the following year, the town’s first meetinghouse was constructed.
2012
The kickoff year for the South Shore Chiefs, a semi-pro Hanover-based team in the New England Football League
PROS & CONS
Pro
High school
When the new Hanover High School opened in 2011, it was hailed as one of the most cutting-edge in the state. The project was completed five months ahead of schedule and more than $10 million underbudget to boot.
Con
Contaminated property
The 240-acre old National Fireworks company site has a long history of pollution from pyrotechnics production and explosives manufacturing and testing, which left behind mercury, lead, and other heavy metals. As of press time, no timetable had been set for the cleanup to start.
Rachel Lebeaux can be reached at [email protected].
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