"The Garrison City"
-City Manager -City Council
Mike JoyalMayor Scott MyersRobert KeaysDavid ScottCatherine CheneyDennis CiottiDouglas DeDeDean TrefethenHarvey TurnerOtis Perry
69.2 km26.1 km2
Dover is a small city located in Strafford County, New Hampshire, in the United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 26,884. It is the county seat of Strafford County. Dover is home to McIntosh College.
Dover is located at 43°11'28" North, 70°52'43" West (43.190984, -70.878533).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 75.2 km2 (29.0 mi2). 69.2 km2 (26.7 mi2) of it is land and 6.1 km2 (2.3 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 8.06% water. Dover is drained by the Cochecho and Bellamy rivers. Garrison Hill, elevation 284 feet (86.5 meters), is the highest point in the city.
As of the census of 2000, there are 26,884 people, 11,573 households, and 6,492 families residing in the city. The population density is 388.5/km2 (1,006.2/mi2). There are 11,924 housing units at an average density of 172.3/km2 (446.3/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 94.47% White, 1.12% African American, 0.20% Native American, 2.36% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.35% from other races, and 1.45% from two or more races. 1.14% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 11,573 households out of which 26.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% are married couples living together, 10.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 43.9% are non-families. 31.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.26 and the average family size is 2.87.
In the city the population is spread out with 20.8% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 34.0% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 92.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 90.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $43,873, and the median income for a family is $57,050. Males have a median income of $37,876 versus $27,329 for females. The per capita income for the city is $23,459. 8.4% of the population and 4.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 9.4% of those under the age of 18 and 5.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
According to historian Jeremy Belknap, the area was called "Wecohamet" by native Abenaki Indians. The first known European to explore the region was Martin Pring from Bristol, England in 1603. Settled in 1623 as "Hilton's Point" by brothers William and Edward Hilton, Dover is the oldest permanent settlement in New Hampshire, and the seventh oldest in the United States. It is one of the colony's three original townships, and once included Durham, Madbury, Newington and Lee. It also included Somersworth and Rollinsford, which together the Indians called "Newichawannock" after the "Newichawannock River," now the Salmon Falls River.
The Hiltons' name survives today at Hilton Park on Dover Point, located where they landed near the confluence of the Cochecho and Bellamy rivers with the Piscataqua. They had been sent from London by The Company of Laconia, which intended to establish a colony and fishery around the Piscataqua. In 1631, however, it contained only three houses.
In 1633, the "Plantation of Cochecho" was bought by a group of English Puritans who planned to settle in New England, including Viscount Saye and Sele, Baron Brooke and John Pym. They promoted colonization in America, and that year "Hilton's Point" would receive an infusion of pioneers, many from Bristol. It would also receive another name. While Captain Thomas Wiggin was agent for the proprietors, granting small lots to keep the settlement compact, it was called "Bristol." Atop the nearby hill, the settlers built a meetinghouse, surrounded by an entrenchment. To the east of it, they built a jail.
The town would be called "Dover" in 1637 by the new governor, Reverend George Burdett. With the arrival of Thomas Larkham in 1639, it would be renamed "Northam," after Northam, England, where he had been preacher. But Lord Saye and Sele's group lost interest in their settlements, both here and at Saybrook, Connecticut, when their intention to establish a hereditary aristocracy in the colonies met with disfavor in New England. Consequently, in 1641, the plantation was sold to Massachusetts and again named "Dover," in honor of Robert Dover, an English lawyer who resisted Puritanism.
Settlers felled abundant trees to build log-houses called garrisons. The town's population and business center would shift from Dover Point to "Cochecho" at the falls, where the river's drop of 34 feet provided water power for industry. Indeed, "Cochecho" means "the rapid foaming water." Major Richard Waldron settled here and built a sawmill and gristmill. On September 7, 1676, Waldron invited about 400 Indians to participate in a mock battle against the militia. It was a trick; instead, he took them prisoner. He would free about 200 of them, but sent the remainder, which he considered in some regard a threat, to Boston, where 7 or 8 were executed. The rest were sold into slavery in "foreign parts." Richard Waldron would be appointed Chief Justice for New Hampshire in 1683.
Thirteen years passed, and it was assumed that the incident had been forgotten. But then squaws began dropping ambiguous hints that something was astir. When citizens spoke their concern to Waldron, he told them to "go and plant your pumpkins, and he would take care of the Indians." On June 27, 1689, two squaws appeared at each of 5 garrison houses, asking permission to sleep by the fire. All but one house accepted. In the dark early hours of the next day, the squaws unfastened the doors, and in rushed braves that had concealed themselves about the town. Waldron resisted but was stunned with a hatchet, then placed on his table. After dining, the Indians cut him across the belly with knives, each saying "I cross out my account." Major Waldron was slain with his own sword. Five or six dwelling houses were burned, along with the mills. Fifty-two colonists, a full quarter of the entire population, were captured or slain in the "Cochecho Massacre" of June 28, 1689. The perpetrators were never caught.
Located at the head of navigation, the falls of the Cochecho River helped bring the Industrial Revolution to 19th century Dover in a profound way. The Dover Cotton Factory was incorporated in 1812. Enlarged in 1823, it became the Dover Manufacturing Company. In 1827, the Cocheco Manufacturing Company was founded (the misspelling a clerical error at incorporation), and in 1829 purchased the Dover Manufacturing Company. Expansive brick mill buildings, linked by railroad, were constructed downtown. Incorporated as a city in 1855, Dover was for a time a national leader in textiles. But during the Great Depression, mills no longer dependent on New England water power began moving to southern states in search of cheaper operating conditions, or simply went out of business. Like those in other mill towns, Dover's dynamos fell silent. Mill buildings constructed at considerable expense were sold to the city itself for a relative pittance.
Now the old mills have become fashionable, and redeveloped into waterfront offices, restaurants and other modern uses. As part of Dover's ongoing commercial and cultural rebirth, the Cochecho River is scheduled to be dredged, which will allow increased boat traffic between the falls and Piscataqua River. Walking trails will line the water's edge. Another walking trail will be created from the rail bed of the defunct Portsmouth & Dover Railroad, established in 1866. The city currently schedules community events and entertainments, some staged in the new Rotary Arts Pavilion, a band shell at Henry Law Park.
Notable Inhabitants:
Source:
DoverNewHampshire.com
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