Dover, NH Summary

Founded in 1623 on the falls of southeastern New Hampshire’s Cocheco River, Dover, the seat of Strafford County, is said to be New Hampshire’s oldest permanent settlement, and the seventh oldest in the nation. It was settled by fishermen and traders who worked their way from the coastal site of Portsmouth, around Great Bay and up the Piscataqua River. Its early economy was centered on fishing, farming, and shipbuilding. In the nineteenth century those ventures gave way to mills and factories. Now home to about 26,500 residents, it’s still an industrial city, but it also has a hightechnology component.

Dover can be reached by car via Hwy 16 northwest of Portsmouth. It is also serviced by rail on the Boston, Massachusetts, to Portland, Maine, route.