The Dover post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Dover Station (1876), Beaumont (1893) and Rosewood (1909), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 4,282143 years
How historic is Dover?
B
More historic than 63% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
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 63% of U.S. towns, #150 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Dover’s overall grade.
Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Dover’s 30.7 sits above most of its state (85% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 13 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% 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 (±4.7 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’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dover. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1893Silver Lake 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.
The story so far
Dover, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Dover yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
The Town of Dover is located in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,282 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Beaumont, Eagle Lake Manor, Eagle Lake Terrace, Kansasville, and Rosewood are located in the town. The census-designated place of Eagle Lake is also located in the town.
Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 4,051 to 4,282 (+6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Dover, 1856 to 1904
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Dover post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Dover rank for history?
Dover is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #150 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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 Southern Wisconsin Home Historic District (listed 1991).
How old are the homes in Dover?
13% of Dover’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
