Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1932 on and old-book passages.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dover’s history is told.
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 town in Buffalo County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 515 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Lookout is located in the town.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 486 to 515 (+6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Dover, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In the Town of Dover the Norwegians seem to form the majority, in Gilmanton the Americans prevail, in Modena, especially in the western part of the town, the Norwegians are certainly very numerous, and in the Town of Nelson, that is, especially the eastern and northern part of it, they have always been regarded as numerous enough to carry an election their own way, if they
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The territory of the town of Dover is Township 23 of Range 10. The town is bounded on the north by Naples on the east b}^ Burnside, Trempealeau Co., on the south by Montana, on the west by Gilmanton. It was set off from the town of Gilmanton, of which it had been a part, at the annual meeting of the countyboard of 1870, and organized at the next spring election, with A.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Dover itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Lookout, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
