Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #25 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it
19 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 22 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1790.
Dover dates its founding to 1623 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
The city is named for Dover, Kent, England.
More historic than 94% 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 94% of U.S. towns, #25 of 126 in New Hampshire. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
New Hampshire towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New Hampshire town has 9.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Dover’s 14.1 sits near the middle of its state (54% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 47 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveNight Attack of Indians
In the archiveBird's eye view of Dover, Strafford Co., New Hampshire 1877
In the archiveDover, Stafford County, New Hampshire 1888
In the archiveDover station undivided back postcard
BuiltUS Post Office-Dover Main is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereMaurice J. Murphy Jr. is born here
Born hereChip Kelly is born here
Born hereConor Casey is born hereThe 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.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1889Sheet 2 of 9Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Dover.
The first known European to explore the region was Martin Pring from Bristol, England, in 1603.
In 1623, brothers William and Edward Hilton settled at Pomeroy Cove on Dover Point, near the confluence of the Bellamy and Piscataqua rivers. This first settlement makes Dover the oldest permanent settlement in New Hampshire, and seventh in the United States.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Dover, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The dismembered town of Dover had a little rest after Durham was taken off until May 10, 1743, "sundry Persons Inhabitants of the Westerly part of the town of Dover & the Northerly part of Durham" petitioned to be set off as a Parish alleging particularly as a reason their distance from the meeting houses in
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
1743 The Provincial Assembly this year appointed a committee " to take a draft of the whole township of Dover, and to set off that part that is set off to Durham, and likewise set off what is Somersworth and to set off what they think is necessary for a new Parish at Madbury and to represent the quantity and quality of the lands in the Parish of old Dover and that proposed for Madbury, in the best manner they can and to make their
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
erly side of a West Northwest half a point north line from Johnson's creek at tbe Bridge in the county Rhoade, to the head lino of Dover township and from the said Bridge South East & by East down to a Pine tree on a point or Neck of land called Cedar Point on the West side of the mouth of t'je Back River in Dover, be
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
of the ministry, as appears by the following document on record : We whose names are hereunder written being chosen by the Town of Dover are appointed by their order to hear and determine all such differences as appear betwixt the inhabitants of the two thirds of the Town of Dover and the one third of the town in Oyster River, do conclude at present as foUoweth, that is to say : ily. That from the first of April 1657 and so forward from year to
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
4 decades in the archive, from the 1700s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dover. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Dover.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Dover’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 1,998 people in 1790 to 32,741 in 2020, more than tenfold.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dover’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Dover’s post office has been open since 1795. Another post office, Dover Point, 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).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1623, according to Wikidata. Dover’s post office opened in 1795, and the first U.S. census counted 1,998 people here in 1790.
Dover is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #25 of 126 in New Hampshire. 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.
19 listings: 14 buildings, 2 historic districts, the Sawyer Woolen Mills and the Cocheco Mills, with 22 contributing buildings, 2 sites, and 1 structure. 47 historic buildings in all.
26% of Dover’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (19), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1888
1907–1915
