Located on the South Shore of Massachusetts midway between Boston and Cape Cod, the Hanover area began attracting settlers as early as 1649. The waterways of the North River Valley beckoned to shipbuilders, millwrights, and associated trades, and the villages that developed near these workplaces still reflect their rural beginnings and architecture. The Four Corners, site of the Wales Tavern, which hosted Paul Revere and Daniel Webster, looks much as it did a century ago. The USS Constitution anchor was forged in Hanover, and in more recent history, the National Fireworks Company was a leader in munitions production during World Wars I and II.