Hanover County covers about 474 square miles north of Richmond, and most of it is farmland and woods. Only one incorporated town lies inside its borders: Ashland, the railroad town on U.S. Route 1. Most of the county’s roughly 110,000 residents live in communities that are towns in name only, such as Mechanicsville, the largest of them, or Hanover Courthouse, the county seat.
The guides in this section go place by place. Each one explains where a community lies, how it grew, what is worth a stop and how long the drive to Richmond takes.
- Mechanicsville, VA: 7 Things to Know About Hanover County’s Largest Suburb Mechanicsville, VA in Hanover County: where it is, how it grew, its Civil War battlefields, parks, schools, commute and what everyday life there is like. 4 min read
- Ashland, Virginia: The Railroad Town Locals Call the Center of the Universe Ashland, VA in Hanover County: why trains run through Main Street, how the railroad and Henry Clay shaped it, what to see and what life in the town is like. 4 min read
- Hanover County, Virginia: A Local Guide to the County North of Richmond Hanover County, VA explained: where it is, its towns from Ashland to Mechanicsville, its population, history from Patrick Henry to 1864 and what life is like. 4 min read