Community Profiles: Etna, NH 03750
Etna, Hanover’s sibling ?
Just Another Hard Autumn Day in Etna !
More than one plan has gone awry with the agreement “We’ll meet in Hanover Center.” At the appointed time one party stands on Hanover’s busy Main St and waits (then waits some more). Meanwhile the other party is some 4.5 miles away on quiet patch of green bordering a historic church, an old New England cemetery and a handful of beautifully restored antique houses looking across to the peak of Moose Mountain.
That green patch would be Hanover Center in Etna and the person standing there would be the one more clued-in! It’s true. Hanover Center has nothing physically to do with Downtown Hanover but in another sense it has everything to do with it!
When friends and clients looking to move to the area ask “Is Etna farther from the Dartmouth Campus than other parts of Hanover?” the answer is “Yes…and No.” To the question “Are the houses cheaper?” we answer “Yes…and No.” And when asked “Is it like a bunch of old farms?” we also have to say “Yes…and No.”
The Barn in Etna - Transformed into 4 First Rate Condos
So let’s set the record straight…Etna is a village of Hanover. Its 1,000 or so residents have all the privileges of Hanover in terms of schools, library access and police protection. They pay the same taxes with the exception of a small mandatory annual surcharge for fire protection. There is, however, no extra charge for the strong feeling of community that Etna residents routinely enjoy!
Count on Pierce’s Inn to set the tone for the village of Etna. You never quite know when you’ll see a full house jamming inside the windows of the Inn! Come one - come all for pickup hockey on the pond or for a gathering of Dartmouth athletes or Hanover High School alumnus. This incarnation Pierce’s is run by local favorites Cindy Pierce and Bruce Lingelbach who simply could not be any better people to have as friends and neighbors!
An Arts & Crafts Inspired Rehab
The Etna General Store has made life easier & better for residents for so many years. Get your subscription to The Boston Globe or the New York Times, grab a fresh sandwich or a McKenzie’s dog, a DVD and make sure you have milk and eggs enough for the weekend. They do a great job and save people the hassle of driving extra miles. While you are there drop in on the US Post Office in a beautifully converted school house.
So what about the houses? What’s up with that whole “Yes…and No” thing? Well there are a good number of farmhouses, capes, colonials and New Englanders built from the late 1700’s to the early 1900’s but there are also 1950’s moderns (flat roofs and all), 1960’s ranches, 1970’s contemporaries, 1980’s neo-classicals and log homes from every period in between. There are 100 acre parcels with houses high on ridge lines and there are 1/2 acre parcels with houses sitting just next to the road.
Etna housing stock can’t really be generalized but two things can be said. First, prices are lower (on a per square foot basis) than those in the Hanover Main St area (see the Understanding Hanover Pricing post) and second, all houses either own or have access to ample trails for hiking, biking, mushrooming or riding horses.
A Great Swimming & Skating Pond
And speaking of access, IS Etna further out of town? Commutes from Etna to the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) can be shorter and easier than those originating in-town Hanover given the easy access from Greensboro Rd. Many parts of Etna are quite convenient to the Bernice Ray Elementary School and the Francis Richmond Middle School, for example Pinneo Hill Rd and Goodfellow Rd which like their neighbor Lyme, enter from the north. Even with these examples it can be said that Etna properties generally WILL add 10-12 minutes to a typical commute.
Summer Splendor
So you see, Etna has so much going for it as a community. Families with kids, single professionals, empty nesters - a glorious mix of demographics living a healthy & active life. The village of Etna really doesn’t need to be defined by its relationship to Hanover but you know what? Once you live here there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of division between the two - it’s all just one great place to live!
Contact The Urban Refugee for questions about Life in Hanover, Etna, Lyme, Norwich, Thetord, Strafford, Lebanon, Enfield, Grantham, Hartford & Hartland: sam@shelleyandsam.com (T) 603 643-9498