Hanover County's 300th Birthday Celebration

11/22/2021

Friday is the County's actual birthday. Here's a message recorded earlier this year from Sean Davis, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, wishing our county the happiest of birthdays. Enjoy your Friday wherever you are!

11/22/2021

Patrick Henry worshipped at the church that stood at this location, which was destroyed during the Civil War. The memorial commemorates the struggle for civil and religious freedom in Colonial Virginia. And it is particularly beautiful during the holiday season.

The lights are officially up! Stop by during the holiday season to enjoy them! ❤️

11/17/2021

Hanover Shopping Week begins Saturday and continues through November 29. In addition to being a great way to support our local businesses, it's also the final leg of our 300th birthday celebration. More information here!

Located in Central Virginia on Interstate 95 just north of Richmond, Hanover County is the perfect place for businesses to innovate, prosper and grow.

11/04/2021

A historic quilt from a historic Hanover County home is among those featured at the Hanover Museum of History & Culture at Hanover Courthouse. Come out and see our new museum!

The new exhibit at the Hanover Museum of History & Culture is courtesy of partners such as The County School Quilters. This quilt originated at the Selwyn Plantation located off Cold Harbor Road. The plantation consisted of 400 acres and was thought to be joined with the much larger Powhite Farm. It was damaged during the Civil War. The Selwyn quilts are said to have come from this time. You can see these and much more at Hanover's Museum of History & culture at Hanover Courthouse! Current Museum operating hours are 12-4 Tuesday-Friday and 10-2 on Saturday; closed Sundays and Mondays.

11/02/2021

Guess what great Hanoverian served as Virginia's first elected governor?

On Tuesday, November 2, Virginia voters will elect our 74th governor, carrying on a democratic tradition that began in 1776, when our first state constitution created the office of governor. Patrick Henry played a pivotal role in seizing Virginia’s independence and creating our state government. Having represented Hanover County in the General Assembly for ten years and been a leading voice for independence, Henry served as a delegate to the Virginia Convention in 1776 and on the committee that wrote both the original state constitution and the Virginia Declaration of Rights. When the convention voted to adopt this proposed constitution, they also promptly elected Henry to serve as Virginia’s first governor. He led the new state from 1776 to 1779, during the tumultuous and uncertain early years of the American Revolution.

Prior, Patrick Henry’s successful career as a lawyer in Hanover County led to his election to the House of Burgesses in 1765, where he immediately promoted Virginia’s independence from Britain with a passionate speech against the Stamp Act called his “Seven Resolves.” His radical words against Parliament and King George III spread through the colonies in print and began to earn Henry a national reputation, which skyrocketed in 1775 when he led the Culpepper Minutemen against Virginia’s royal governor, Lord Dunmore, during the Gunpowder Incident. Thanks to this fame and his patriotic call for “liberty or death” at St. John’s Church that same year, Patrick Henry stood out to the Virginia Convention as a prime candidate for governor. Under the 1776 constitution Virginia’s legislature, not the people, elected the governor annually for up to three years at a time, at which point incumbents had to wait four years before seeking reelection. Henry went on to hold the office for a record five times, from 1776–79 and again from 1784–85, but the rules for gubernatorial elections have changed significantly since his tenure.

In 1830, the General Assembly adopted a new state constitution that changed the renewable one-year term length to a non-renewable three-year term. The 1830 constitution also prevented governors from succeeding themselves, setting a rule that has remained in place to the present day and makes Virginia the only state in which governors cannot run for reelection. The General Assembly continued to elect Virginia’s governor until 1851, when our third state constitution made the gubernatorial election a popular vote (for only white men at the time), increased the term from three years to four, and created the office of Lieutenant Governor.

Get out and vote and like Patrick Henry, make sure your voice is heard!

~~~
Article contributed by Kyle Rogers, Scotchtown Interpreter

10/28/2021

Here's information about an interesting community program to be held tonight at the Ashland Library: Story Stop Hanover!

Join us tomorrow evening, Thursday, Oct. 28, at 7pm for Story Stop: Hanover, at the Ashland Library, 201 S. Railroad Ave., Ashland. Led by writer Kris Spisak with panelists Anne Geddy Cross, writer and Hanover historian, Dr. Kelly Carter Merrill, writer and adjunct Communication Studies professor at R-MC, and Kate Chenery Tweedy, family historian and author of Secretariat's Meadow - The Land, The Family The Legend, we will explore how our stories and memories define our communities. Join the Hanover Museum of History and Culture (HMHC) and the Ashland Museum as we continue the story about change in our rural communities with a special conversation.

This event is free, but please email [email protected] or [email protected] to save a seat. Or call 804-365-7150 (HMHC) or 804-368-7314 (Ashland Museum).

10/06/2021

Congratulations to Patrick Henry's Scotchtown for putting on a great event Saturday!

09/29/2021

We hope to see you at this once in a lifetime event on Saturday!

09/28/2021

It's closing soon, don't miss it!

09/20/2021

Patrick Henry's Scotchtown is sharing in our birthday celebration!

Mark your calendars! Saturday, October 2nd, Hanover County and Patrick Henry’s Scotchtown are partnering to host a 300th Anniversary Commemoration and Fall Festival. Enjoy live music, food trucks, a petting zoo, a selection of beverage options and continuous Scotchtown tours. Michael Twitty, noted...

09/17/2021

Two days left to get the Early Bird special on tickets for this historic event at Patrick Henry's Scotchtown.

09/16/2021

A special program on how Hanover has changed in the last 40 years or so will be held in the theater of the Hanover Tavern on Thursday night, September 23. County Administrator John A. Budesky and retired Deputy County Administrator John H. Hodges will speak in a conversation moderated by former Hanover County Public Schools superintendent Dr. Jamelle Wilson at 7 p.m. It's free but seating is limited. To make a reservation, email the Ashland Museum at [email protected].