Most of Dover was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1936 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: the first Dover post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Dover’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dover is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Dover’s overall grade.
Tennessee towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Tennessee town has 6.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Dover’s 15.3 sits above most of its state (69% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.2 points) is firm at this size. 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’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
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.
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 and the county seat of Stewart County, Tennessee, 67 miles (108 km) west-northwest of Nashville on the Cumberland River. Fort Donelson National Cemetery is in Dover. As of the 2020 census, Dover had a population of 1,826. Dover is part of the Clarksville metropolitan area.
Its first post office opened in 1807. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,417 to 1,826 (+29%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
On the map
Dover on the map, 1936 to 1971
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dover. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1936Dover sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Dover.
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.
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Tennessee - Stewart County - Dover - ED 81-8B, ED 81-9, 1880
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Dover’s page.
The Dover post office opened in 1807, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Dover rank for history?
Dover is more historic than 61% 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.
What is on the National Register in Dover?
One place: the Fort Donelson National Battlefield (listed 1966).
How old are the homes in Dover?
4% of Dover’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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