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History · Dover

Dover’s post office opened in 1890, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Kiel-Dover Farmers Elevator. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1980.

1890first post office
1on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Dover began

When was Dover founded?

1890

The Dover post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 570 in 19802020 census: 400136 years
Founding year: the first Dover post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Dover’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Dover are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1990. Watch Dover change.Mapped building by building7 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1916, drew every building in Dover.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dover’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Dover on the map, 1892 to 1990

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

Dover on the 1892 USGS mapDover on the 1972 USGS mapDover on the 1990 USGS map1892Kingfisher sheet · 1:125,000

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

Every building

Dover, building by building, 1894–1916

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.

Dover fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 11894Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Dover came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dover.

Read it all →

The area around Dover was ideal for cattle grazing, By 1884, all the land had been leased to cattlemen. The Red Fork Traders' Ranch had been established near the Chisholm Trail. The land was opened for settlement by the Land Run of 1889, and the trading post was well-placed to benefit from the farmers that settled nearby.

The Rock Island built a track through the Traders' Ranch and constructed abridge across the Cimarron River in October 1889. A settlement called Red Wing grew up around the ranch. On March 1, 1890, a post office was established renaming the community "Dover" after the city in England. By 1893, the community had an estimated 150 residents, growing to about 500 by 1910.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Dover, 1890 to 1987

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Dover post office opens
  3. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1987Born hereDondria is born here
By decade

Dover, decade by decade

Today1 recent
OKMap-doton-Dover2004OKMap-doton-Dover
On the National Register

1 historic place in Dover

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2000
Kiel-Dover Farmers Elevator
Kiel-Dover Farmers Elevator
Structures

Architectural styles listings

Iron-Clad Wood Country Elevator1
All 1 listings
Kiel-Dover Farmers ElevatorStructure · listed 2000

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

People over time

Dover, census by census

0100200300400500600198020002020Peak: 570

Between 367 and 570 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Questions about Dover’s history

What year was Dover founded?

The Dover post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Dover?

One place: the Kiel-Dover Farmers Elevator (listed 2000).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.