Dover, NH

Dover is located at the southern tip of Strafford County, right between the Cocheco and Bellamy Rivers, and is part of the general Seacoast NH areas. Dover is about 12 miles north of Portsmouth via Route 16, The Spaulding Turnpike.

Dover NH was settled in 1623, and at that time, it was one of the first three communities established in NH. Originally called Hilton's Point, after the person who led the group of Englishmen who landed at Dover Point, it was later named Dover after Dover, England.  The population back in the very first census poll was 1,998 residents in 1790.  Today, the population is around 28,000 or so.

Originally built around 1815 as the Dover Cotton Factory, the 380,000 square foot facilty was refurbished and now operates as first class office space for tenants like Dell, Bank of America, MBNA, and several other Fortune 500 companies. The water in the foreground is a mill pond formed by damming the Cochecho River which flows through downtown Dover. Water power was very common many years ago to power all sort of industry. Dover had a sawmill and a large scale corn mill in operation in the mid 1600s.

Dover is home to Dover High School and Dover Middle School. The Dover High School teams are known as the "The Green Wave".  Three elementary schools service Dover's younger school children - Garrison Elementary School; Horne Street Elementary School; and Woodman Park Elementary School.

Downtown Dover with lots of quaint shops and sidewalk cafes.

Dover has a beautiful rejuvenated downtown area - lots of beautiful old brick buildings that were redone and now house lots of interesting little shops and restaurants.  As with many cities and towns across the country, Dover was a town facing losing businesses in their downtown district years ago, and they took great steps to keep, and bring more, businesses downtown.  Today, downtown Dover is alive and thriving due to these steps taken years ago. 

Home to TWO former Olympians, Dover is very proud to be the homes of both Jenny Thompson and Cathy Schiro-O'Brien.  Jenny Thompson is the most decorated American Olympian of all time - she holds 12 medals, 8 of which are gold! Cathy Schiro-O'Brien was a marathon runner in 1992 Summer Olympics.  She has been a cross country coach at Dover Middle School for a number of years.

Dover is in a great location - one hour north of Boston, 10 minutes north of Portsmouth, about 35 minutes away from Concord (our state capitol), about 45 minutes to Manchester-Boston Airport, and about 45 minutes south of Portland Maine.  Being on the Cocheco and Bellamy Rivers, both of which empty into the Piscataqua River that runs through Portsmouth, and separates New Hampshire and Maine, it's an easy boat ride to reach the wide blue Atlantic Ocean - just minutes away!

Dover is a WONDERFUL place to live and call home - very community-oriented, with lots of great events held downtown and scattered around town all year long.  Their Summer Concerts Series in the summer is wonderful.  With all the rivers that run through and around Dover, there are plenty of water activities for you - kayak, canoe, boating, and cruises.  Soak up some of the local history - with Dover being the oldest continuous settlement in NH and the 7th oldest in the country, there's loads of history here, including tours of historic homes and 3 historic walking tours of the town. 
Something for everyone for sure!!