Welcome to the History of Hanover page! Let's jump right in.
During the late eighteenth century, the area today known as the state of Indiana was a part of the Northwest Territory, which originally consisted of the later states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and parts of Minnesota. There were few European settlements on the northern bank of the Ohio River. Kentucky, on the southern banks of the Ohio, originally included as a part of Virginia, and in 1792 granted statehood, was more densely settled by Europeans. It is likely that prior to the early nineteenth-century European settlement of the Hanover area, its predominant inhabitants were Shawnee.
In the winter of 1801, a young Captain George Logan (1780-May 12, 1875), who grew up in a farming household in the area of Lexington, Kentucky, loaded a barge with produce and embarked on a journey westward on the Ohio River, ultimately to sell the produce in New Orleans. He later noted, there were no European settlements in the area between present-day Carrollton, Kentucky and Louisville.
Faced with heavy winds and harsh weather, Logan was forced to stop his procession. He stopped his barge roughly a half mile west of the present-day area of Hanover Beach. After waiting for several days, he decided to head ashore. 
Present-day Hanover is located on a hill overlooking the river valley below. Here's a more modern-day view from the Point.
When Captain George Logan decided to explore, he climbed this hill to the spot today known as Logan's Point. Logan carved his initials on a beech tree along with the date, March 1, 1801. This was the first recorded instance of a European exploring the area of Hanover. Jefferson County and Hanover were taking shape! Check out these maps below.
Judge Williamson Dunn, from Mercer County, Kentucky, purchased the land area of modern Hanover from the federal government on November 28, 1808.
The following year, Dunn resettled his entire family to the area, and they became the first residents of a town called "Dunn's Settlement," which would later become known as Hanover. 
The origin of the name Hanover derives from Hanover Germany. In 1819, Presbyterian minister Thomas C. Searle (January 15, 1787 - October 15, 1821) moved to nearby Madison. On March 4, 1820, Searle founded the Hanover Presbyterian Church, given its name because church congregants greatly admired his wife, a native of Hanover, New Hampshire. In New Hampshire, "Hannover" was the original spelling in the 1761 New Hampshire charter and derived its name in honor of the reigning British-Hanoverian king, George III. In Germany, the name Hanover derived from 'Honovere', which some claim means 'high (river)bank'. How appropriate that Hanover, Indiana is also high atop a river bank. The Indiana town of Hanover adopted the name "Hanover," although officially it could only be named "South Hanover" because a post office was already in existence in Shelby County for a town of "Hanover." When the other town of Hanover ceased to support a post office, then South Hanover's name was shortened to Hanover.
In the Hanover area in the late 1800s and early 1900s, there were 13 or 14 grade schools in the township because the children had no way to travel far. The schools had such names as Frog Pond, Sweet Saluda, Sheep Run, Egypt and Ten Cent. The town of Hanover was growing and in 1827 Hanover College was founded by John Finley Crowe.
According to the book 'Images of America - Hanover' by Marty Lenzini Murray, Hanover's first school was a log cabin of split logs with an immense chimney at one end. This school existed as early as 1820, according to William McKee Dunn, who attended it then. There are no known pictures of this log cabin.
Let's take a stroll down memory lane to see the history of the town of Hanover and the origin of the current Southwestern school system bettern known as the Southwestern Rebels.The next school, called the Little Red Schoolhouse used to sit where the present day Hanover Firehouse is. Children in grades 1-8 attended it. Pictures of this school can be seen as early as 1915 and the building dates to 1871.
The building now sits at the west end of Hanover. The Hanover College Campus was used for high school grades until the Hanover Public School building (below) opened in 1928.
This 'Hanover Public School' building had K1-12 classes from 1928-1959. As mentioned, prior to 1928, other school & gym buildings (including some at Hanover College, the little Red School house & others) were used for Hanover schools.
On May 7, 1959, Southwestern Jefferson County Consolidated School Corporation became a reality. This
corporation includes four townships: Saluda, Hanover, Republican and Smyrna. Hanover High School became
the first home of Southwestern for the school term of 1960-61. On April 3, 1974, the 1973-74 school year ended
because of a tornado. The high school was housed in portable classrooms for the school term of 1974-75 and
moved into the present building for the school term of 1975-76. The junior high moved into the portable
classrooms for the school year 1975-76 and into the present building during the school term of 1976-77.
Southwestern Schools received Full Accreditation through the State of Indiana.
Local elementary and high school consolidations would soon occur as means of transportation improved.
From its humble beginnings, Crowe opened the Hanover Academy January 1, 1827, in a small log cabin near his home, just two years later, the state of Indiana granted a charter to the Academy. On November 9, 1829, the Academy's Board of Trustees accepted a proposal by the Presbyterian Synod of Indiana to adopt the school, provided a theological department was established. Here's an aerial view of modern day Hanover College.
Hanover isn't just another small town. There are some interesting things that have happened here that support the feeling of Hanover Pride. For example, the Purdue-Indiana Old Oaken Bucket came from the Bruner farm between Kent and Hanover in southern Indiana back in 1925! The Bruner family lore indicates the bucket might have been used by a General during the Civil War back in the 1870s. The next time you watch an Indiana vs. Purdue football game and see this trophy, remember it came from our family here! 
Did you know that Hanover is home to Indiana's tallest waterfalls? Fremont Falls is a waterfall located in Hanover, Indiana. At 108 feet (33 m), it is the HIGHEST waterfall in Indiana!
Fremont Falls is located a few miles south of Hanover in Jefferson County. The waterfall is located on private property just southwest of the intersection of Fremont Falls Road and River Bluff Drive. Chain Mill Falls is located northwest of Fremont Falls in the same gorge. Check out the map below showing directions going south to Fremont Falls from the Southwestern High School.
Here's another one that instills Hanover Pride. The Indiana All-Time winningest College Football Coach was Wayne Perry, who coached right here in Hanover! He became the winningest football coach in Indiana history with a 41-25-overtime victory against the College of Mount St. Joseph (Ohio), on October 1, 2005. With the win, he surpassed Butler University legend Tony Hinkle, who totaled 165 wins in 32 seasons with the Bulldogs.
A native of Madison, Indiana, Perry earned the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) District coach of the year honor seven times during a 10-year span in the 1980-1990.
Overall, in his time at Hanover, Perry has been named to 23 Coach of the Year honors by conferences or regions. He was also named the National Football Foundation Man of the Year in 2008, garnered the Sagamore of Wabash award, named the city of Madison-Favorite Son and given the key to the city.
There were several area high schools back in the day such as Pleasant Point, Dupont, Kent, Hanover and North Madison, among others. Many of these further consolidated. Check out Main Street - Hanover back in 1909 with its dirt streets and Main Street - Hanover in 2020.
Below is a 'Now and Then' view of the building at the corner of Main Street and Madison Avenue built in 1884.
The Saluda High School officially opened December 10, 1910. The Saluda High School class of 1959 was the last class to have its own graduation; the class of 1960 had its graduation with Hanover on the Hanover College Campus. That fall the high school students went to Hanover to school. The elementary students stayed behind in Saluda until a new elementary school was built in Hanover the next year.
The Saluda High School building is long gone, having burned and its rubble buried in the old school yard. The later-built brick gymnasium (see picture) still stands, and for several years was the English Shrine Club. The club sold the former gym to a man who converted it to a private residence. The Saluda school bell was salvaged and is the centerpiece of a memorial at Saluda-Paynesville Road and Prospect Road in the community of Saluda. It's at the edge of the old schoolyard, with the gym-turned-home behind it. Two granite slabs flank the bell, and on them are engraved the names of every one of the 430 graduates of Saluda High School.
For more information on the Saluda High School, you can visit the Saluda High School Alumni site. Do you recognize anyone on this 1957 Saluda team, coached by Delbert King, who later became the Principal of Southwestern High School? Go Saluda Lions!
Hanover High School was also established as early as 1820 with classes held at Hanover College. They were known as the Hanover Bulldogs. The Hanover school first appears in the IHSAA Yearbooks in the 1916-17 season, although no events are recorded for the school. In the 1917-18 IHSAA Yearbook, records show that Hanover lost to Brownstown 19-16 in the basketball tournament, Hanover's 1st game on record.
In the 1922-23 season, Hanover hosted the basketball Sectional tournament. Hanover defeated Jeffersonville 25-23 in the 1st game, they defeated Vevay 27-15 in the 2nd game and then knocked off Scottsburg 17-11 in the championship game to record the school's 1st basketball Sectional victory!!! You can see the details in the 1922-23 IHSAA Yearbook here.
The sports tradition continued over the years. Maybe you know or are related to some of these people that comprised the 1942 Hanover basketball teams under coach Brown and Gable?
Here's a 1957 Hanover baseball team with many athletes that also represented Hanover school sports teams. Recognize any of these players? They include: (first row) Luther Adams, Newton 'Newt' Adams (father), Albert Adams, Floyd Adams and Donald Duke; (second row) Jack Weber, Melvin Adams, Jim Selig, Orville Selig, Bob Black, Clifford Adams, Willard Adams and Robert Adams.
The Hanover High School gym building (below) was built in 1952 and later renamed Southwestern High School when Saluda, Hanover and other schools consolidated around 1959. The Southwestern Consolidated Schools corporation was comprised of this and the Hanover Public School building. A new Elementary building was underway in 1960.
The Southwestern Jefferson County Consolidated High School was founded May 7th, 1959 with the consolidation of Smyrna, Republican, Saluda and Hanover high schools. The communities of Saluda Township - which was formed and named March 13, 1817 - included Chelsea, Marble Hill, Harrell and New London. A new Elementary building was underway around 1960-61, with some students moving from the Hanover Public School building to the new Elementary in January of '61.
Like the birth of a new nation back in 1775 via the Revolutionary War, that saw the formation of the United States of America, the Southwestern Rebels were born with the consolidation of several local-area schools back in 1959. The Southwestern Rebels name & red-white-blue colors represented the 'coming together' of Hanover, Saluda & several other schools to form a new community where all are welcome, included, recognized & rewarded!
Mrs. Linda (Underwood) Firth, 1961 Rebian Editor explains:
Below is a picture of the Southwestern High School Complex back in 1965. It includes the old Hanover Public School building (front) and the Southwestern High School & Gym building (behind). The gym was on the second floor!
Below is the Elementary-Junior High building via a view looking south from the Hanover Public School building. Note the canopy that ran between the High School complex and the Elementary-Junior High buildings.
Mr. Delbert King was the Southwestern Principal from the beginning in 1960 through the 1992 school year. Click on the picture below to see more photos of Mr. King over the years.
Since the schools were located in the southwestern region of Jefferson County, Indiana, the new school was officially named Southwestern Jefferson County Consolidated High School. Originally, the school was located in the edifice of the old Hanover High School with the gym being on the 2nd floor of the building behind. In 1961, Southwestern changed school colors to red, white & blue. The colors were a combination of the Saluda Lions red & white, and the Hanover Bulldogs blue & white. Several mascots were in consideration such as the 'Cavaliers', but the school finally settled on the 'Rebels'.
In the early 1970s, the Southwestern basketball teams rocked that gym by winning back-to-back Sectional titles in '72-73 and '73-74.
According to IHSAA official records, on February 17, 1973, Steve Collier scored 55 points in a home game against Moores Hill in this gym. This was before the 3-point line was established in high school basketball and Collier was even taken out for a portion of the game as the Rebels held a commanding lead. You can check out his picture with stats in the gym today, as well as read about his induction into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
Later, Steve Collier would become Indiana's co-Mr. Basketball, alongside Ron Taylor of Anderson, in 1974, beating out another well known Indiana player for top honors-Larry Bird. Don't feel too bad for Larry though as he too later scored 55 points in a high school game against Corydon, on January 19th, 1974, and things turned out ok for him too.
Southwestern has gone on to win many basketball Sectional titles including 1972-73, 1973-74, 1976-77, 1986-87, 1996-97, 1997-98 (2A), 2017-18 (2A), 2018-19 (2A). Shown below is the 2018-2018 Rebels, who repeated as Sectional Champs!
And let's not forget the success of the Lady Rebels. In 2002, they brought home a State Championship Title in basketball and were State Runner-ups the next year. They won 7 of 8 Sectional titles in the 2000s. That's simply AWESOME!!!
Many still remember how the old school & gym were severely damaged in the April 3, 1974 tornado. Experts called this the tornado Super Outbreak, that ravaged much of the Midwest. Here's a before and after look at Hanover High School.
Our hearts still go out to the many residents that were injured or lost loved ones in the Madison-Hanover area.
Our school suffered major damage as shown here.
However, out of that despair rose hope for the future that is the Southwestern High School building, built over the year following the 1974 tornado. Whether it was the tornado of 1974, the blizzard of 1978 or the 2020 corona virus pandemic-that closed schools & forced us to understand a new term called 'social distancing', one thing is certain: The community of Hanover & Southwestern will endure. We are the REBELS!!!
The community continues to enjoy the school that was built following the 1974 tornado. The tornado may have taken loved ones & destroyed over 90% of the town of Hanover, but our sense of community was only enhanced as people came together to help one another during that difficult time. We enourage you to take a look at all the academic, sports & extracurricular activities that Southwestern Rebels students & staff thrive in via the Year-By-Year page. What great times we've had!
Let's fly over Hanover!
It is a comforting feeling to know that, as an Alumni, one can always return to this hope-filled, family-oriented community that is the home of the Southwestern Rebels Nation. Go Rebels!!!
We hope you enjoyed this small journey through the History of Hanover!
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