Harper's Homestead & Harper's Tavern
1740s -1760s
In 1740, Adam Harper built a log house near the juncture of Swatara and Indian Creeks. He kept the first public house in the region. In 1761, Mr. Harper bought 300 acres and the site became known as Harper’s Homestead.
In 1804, John Harper, a descendant of Adam Harper, built the structure now known as Harper’s Tavern where citizens enjoy food and drink to this date.
1804
Ono
1846
Ono is the largest village in the Township. Originally called Mt. Nebo, the first house was built in 1846 by Frederick Sager. Jacob Seltzer opened the first store, succeeded by John Seltzer.
The latter also ran the post office when it was established in 1851. A year or two after this at the suggestion of Judge Rank and Dr. D. D. Cooper, the name of the village was changed to Ono. Both Mt. Nebo and Ono are biblical names.
1850s
The Union Canal
The Union Canal is another historical structure whose remnants are much in evidence along the course of the Swatara. The possibility of joining the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Rivers by a waterway was conceived by William Penn and mentioned in his “Proposals for a Second Settlement.”
1771
In 1771, the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia published a paper supporting the idea of joining the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Rivers by a waterway.
In September 1791, the legislature approved an act establishing the “Schuylkill and Susquehanna Navigation Company” and, in 1792, formed the Delaware and Schuylkill Navigation Company, designed to connect the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers with the Susquehanna.
1790s
1827
After years of trials and financial disasters, the Union Canal was completed in the autumn of 1827. The canal was 82 miles long and contained 95 locks.
Traffic flourished on the canal, but by 1857 the Lebanon Valley Railroad began to win the competition for transport and by 1885 the canal was abandoned. In East Hanover Township, the old canal ditch is evident, as are several beautifully constructed stone locks.