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B+History
History · Dover-Foxcroft

Dover-Foxcroft’s post office opened in 1922, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns · #106 of 143 in Maine. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 23 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1932 on, and the census since 1830.

1922first post office
5on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
10famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Dover-Foxcroft’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Dover-Foxcroft began

When was Dover-Foxcroft founded?

1922

The Dover-Foxcroft post office opened in 1922, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, East Dover (1839), Dover South Mills (1852) and Norton (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,042 in 18302020 census: 4,422104 years

How historic is Dover-Foxcroft?

B+

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Dover-Foxcroft post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Dover-Foxcroft’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dover-Foxcroft is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #106 of 143 in Maine. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Dover-Foxcroft’s overall grade.
Founding era1922, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194036.4% of homes (±7.3) · typical ME town 19.1% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register5 listings, 26 historic buildings, 57.7 per 10,000 residents · typical ME town 15.9 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 68%
NewerOlder
Maine towns of 2,500+ (143)Ahead of 26%

Maine towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Maine town has 15.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Dover-Foxcroft’s 57.7 sits above most of its state (78% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 26 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Dover-Foxcroft’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Dover-Foxcroft, and 10 old place names are still on the map.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.Famous sons and daughtersCorey Beaulieu, Dave Schwep and 8 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Dover-Foxcroft’s post office has been open since 1922. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

East Dover
1839–1955
Dover South Mills
1852–1903
Norton
1890–1911
Dover-Foxcroft
1922–today
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Berrys CornerDover South MillsEast DoverGoffs CornerGreeleys LandingHurd CornerParson LandingSouth DoverStarbirdsSteadman Landing
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Dover-Foxcroft
GrayLeeMcAllisterPine GroveRural GroveSouth Dover

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the National Register

5 listings protect 26 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
26
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
James Sullivan Wiley House
James Sullivan Wiley HouseChandler-Parsons Blacksmith ShopObserver BuildingAmerican Woolen Company Foxcroft MillDover-Foxcroft Commercial Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival2
Late Victorian1
Wood Mill Building1
Italianate1
Second Empire1
Modern Movement1
James Sullivan Wiley HouseGreek Revival
Chandler-Parsons Blacksmith ShopBuilding
Observer BuildingGreek Revival
American Woolen Company Foxcroft MillLate Victorian
All 5 listings
Dover-Foxcroft Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2021

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

10 famous people were born in Dover-Foxcroft

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
C
Corey BeaulieuAmerican guitarist · b. 1983
Dave SchwepAmerican cinematographer, director and producer · b. 1977
Henry Otis PrattAmerican politician · b. 1838
C
Clarence BlethenAmerican baseball player · b. 1893
D
Douglas SmithAmerican politician in Maine · b. 1946
Lillian M. N. StevensAmerican temperance worker · b. 1844
The story

How Dover-Foxcroft came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dover-Foxcroft.

Read it all →

Dover-Foxcroft was originally two towns, Dover and Foxcroft, separated by the Piscataquis River. Dover was to the south of the river, and Foxcroft was to the north.

Dover was purchased from Massachusetts by Boston merchants Charles Vaughan and John Merrick, both of whom had emigrated from England. It was first permanently settled in 1803 by Eli Towne from Temple, New Hampshire, then incorporated on January 19, 1822. Agriculture was the principal early occupation, producing potatoes, corn and grain.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Dover-Foxcroft, 1838 to 1983

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1838Born hereHenry Otis Pratt is born here
  3. 1839Post officeThe East Dover post office opens
  4. 1852Post officeThe Dover South Mills post office opens
  5. 1890Post officeThe Norton post office opens
  6. 1893Born hereClarence Blethen is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1903Post officeThe Dover South Mills post office closes
  9. 1905In the archiveLincoln Street, Foxcroft, ME
  10. 1910In the archiveBlethen House, Dover, ME
  11. 1911Post officeThe Norton post office closes
  12. 1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  13. 1955Post officeThe East Dover post office closes
  14. 1977Born hereDave Schwep is born here
  15. 1983Born hereCorey Beaulieu is born here
By decade

Dover-Foxcroft, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s4 items
Lincoln Street, Foxcroft, MEc. 1905Lincoln Street, Foxcroft, MEPostcardUnion Square1906Union SquarePostcardHigh Water, Foxcroft, ME1909High Water, Foxcroft, MEPostcardBlethen House, Dover, MEc. 1910Blethen House, Dover, MEPostcard
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown2 to date
Annual report of the municipal officers of the town of DoverDate?Annual report of the municipal officers of the town o…BookCastle Square Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts (NBY 21548)Date?Castle Square Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts (NBY 21548)
Today8 recent
Blacksmith Shop Museum2022Blacksmith Shop MuseumRollerland2020RollerlandPiscataquis river2020Piscataquis riverDover foxcroft post office mural2020Dover foxcroft post office muralDoverFoxcroftME ObserverBuilding2015DoverFoxcroftME ObserverBuildingDoverFoxcroftME JamesSullivanWileyHouse2015DoverFoxcroftME JamesSullivanWileyHouseDover & Foxcroft2008Dover & FoxcroftMaine State Route 153 through2005Maine State Route 153 through
On the map

Dover-Foxcroft on the map, 1932 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dover-Foxcroft. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Dover-Foxcroft on the 1932 USGS mapDover-Foxcroft on the 1983 USGS map1932Dover-Foxcroft sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Dover-Foxcroft.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Lincoln Street, Foxcroft, ME
Retake this viewLincoln Street, Foxcroft, ME, c. 1905

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Dover-Foxcroft’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Dover-Foxcroft, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0001850190019502000Peak: 4,657

Between 1,042 and 4,657 people in every census since 1830.

20 censuses, 1830–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dover-Foxcroft’s Wikipedia page.

Help out

Start Dover-Foxcroft’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dover-Foxcroft’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewLincoln Street, Foxcroft, ME: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

BowerbankIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSangerville3 historic placesASebec2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGarland1 historic placeBGuilford3 historic placesA−

Questions about Dover-Foxcroft’s history

What year was Dover-Foxcroft founded?

The Dover-Foxcroft post office opened in 1922, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Dover-Foxcroft rank for history?

Dover-Foxcroft is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #106 of 143 in Maine. 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.

What is on the National Register in Dover-Foxcroft?

5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the James Sullivan Wiley House (listed 1976, the first), and 2 historic districts, the American Woolen Company Foxcroft Mill and the Dover-Foxcroft Commercial Historic District, with 23 contributing buildings. 26 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Dover-Foxcroft?

36% of Dover-Foxcroft’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1973.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (14), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.