Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 26% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Dover was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2004. Its Register listing is the Dover Church.
The Dover post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Welty (1909), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dover is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Idaho towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Idaho town has 8.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Dover’s 12.6 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Idaho towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dover’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Dover yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Dover is a city in Bonner County, Idaho. The population was 752 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1910. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 556 to 752 (+35%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Dover’s post office has been open since 1910. Another post office, Welty, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Dover post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Dover is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
One place: the Dover Church (listed 1989).
8% of Dover’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 8.5% for an Idaho town; the median home was built in 2004.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2004