Dover History

Dover was founded by two brothers-in-law who took a horseback trip from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1802 and liked the fertile plateau they found at the confluence of the Tuscarawas River and Sugarcreek. They were Jesse Slinguff and Christian Deardorff who found the site where they later started Dover, which was owned by Col. James Morrison of Kentucky, who had received it from the federal government for Revolutionary War services. They returned in 1805 and in 1806 purchased 2,175 acres for $4,622. Dover was laid out in 1807 and Deardorff and Slinguff families were prominent citizens of the town through its growth from a grist mill at a Tuscarawas River ford to a thriving industrial city. The town's first prosperity was stimulated by the construction of the Ohio and Erie canal in the late 1820's. Warehouses were built and flour mills constructed. The only toll collecting office in the county was situated in Dover.

Local industries included a woolen mill, blast furnaces, saw mills and tanneries. The City was always called Dover but the post office was called Canal Dover for many years because of other Dover, Ohio, post offices that were later abolished, after which the Canal Dover Post Office became Dover. This change was made December 18, 1915. The town was incorporated in 1842 and Joseph Slingluff was its first Mayor. The charter was permitted to lapse after a few years and it was not restored until 1867. The importance of the canal began to decline in the 1880's under the impact of the railroads. The Tuscarawas branch of the Cleveland and Pittsburgh and the Marietta and Wheeling, now a part of the Baltimore & Ohio, were built. Steel mills were constructed and clay manufacturing was developed, which, with other diversified industries attracted a cosmopolitan population.

TODAY-

Dover today is a prosperous and progressive Ohio city with a almost perfect balance of industrial, commercial and agricultural activity. The 18 industrial plants of the city have employed an average of more than 2,500 workers over a five year period. Dover has been conspicuous for the dependability and skill of its workers, and its industrial plants boast a low turnover of employees, who because of diversity of manufacture in the area are skilled in all modern industrial techniques. From Tuscarawas County come most of the raw materials that go into the manufactured products of Dover. Included are coal, clay, limestone, shale, molding, sand, petroleum, natural gas and rock sale. Among the products of Dover industrial plants are brick and allied clay products, electric appliances, manufactured screw products, tanks, boilers, steel fabrication, drawn tungsten wire, cold rolled strip and stainless steel, a wide range of chemical products, plastic moldings, wire, stone, steel sheets, roofing, stove and furnace pipe, buckets, tubs, wood stoves, castings - both ferrous and non ferrous. The City has municipal light plant and water systems, maintains a park, stadium, modern public and parochial high schools, four new public grade schools and a parochial grade school, a new YMCA, Legion Memorial Hall, a park system and has 14 churches and a Salvation Army Building. The Tuscarawas County Fairgrounds and Union Hospital are located in the City. Points of tourist interest includes Dover Dam, key dam of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, and the Warther Museum and the J. E. Reeves Home and Museum.

HISTORY OF DOVER -

CANAL DOVER was changed to Dover, December 18, 1915, City of Dover was incorporated December 6, 1901. Dover was founded in 1807. ALTITUDE - 900 feet above sea level, climate-temperature ranges 5 degrees F. to 100 degrees F. FINANCE - 4 banks and 1 savings and loan companies. TRADE AREA - 15 mile radius with a population of 90,000. UTILITIES - Utilities serving Dover include East Ohio Gas Co., Dover Light and Power Plant, Dover Water Works, Ohio Power Co., and General Telephone Co. of Ohio. NATURAL RESOURCES - 15 natural resources in abundance in the Dover area include coal, clay, molding sand and sandstone. NEWSPAPER - The Times Reporter, published daily including Sunday and holidays. RADIO - Station WJER, WTUZ & TV Cable Channel 2. SCHOOLS - one high school and four elementary schools in the public system. One elementary school under parochial administration. HOSPITAL - Modern Union Hospital provides beds for 120 adults and pediatrics. Founded in 1906, with 1996 completion of major renovationa and expansion. Mediacal staff of 72. WARTHER MUSEUM - Ernest Warther's world famous carvings of model locomotives are on exhibit daily. Also, on display is some of the finest handmade cutlery of this era made by Mr Warther's sons. LOCATION - Dover lies 80 miles south of Cleveland and Lake Erie, 100 miles west of Pittsburgh and 100 miles northeast of Columbus. Within a radius of 500 miles lie the large industrial centers of the East and Midwest and two of the nations navigable inland waterways, the Ohio River and Great Lakes. POPULATION - 1990 - 11,329 the population is predominantly native-born white. The percentage of foreign-born white is 6.6 percent, black 1.6 percent. GOVERNMENT - Operating under the Statutory Form of government, the citizens of Dover elect a mayor and eight members of the council, including the president, three councilmen-at-large and four ward councilmen. Responsible for the various departments of city business are the safety director, service director, auditor, treasurer and solicitor. FIRE DEPT. - Six trucks are staffed by 16 trained persons and the POLICE DEPT. has a staff of 22. The Fire Dept. operates an emergency ambulance service which includes 2 ambulances. RAILROADS - The Baltimore and Ohio and Chessie Railroads provide freight service to the City. AIRPORT - Charter flights at the New Philadelphia Municipal Airport, Harry Clever Field. TRUCK LINES - 25 inter and inter-state carriers service the area with five major lines having depots in the City. BUS LINES - Greyhound HIGHWAYS - U. S. Highway 21 intersects Dover for direct north and south connections while U. S. Highway 250 gives Dover east and west travel. Major state routes entering Dover are Ohio 8 and 39. Dover is connected to IS 77 by State Route 211. MUSKINGUM CONSERVANCY DISTRICT - Dover is located within 30 miles driving distance of five of the Conservancy Districts Flood Control Lakes. These lakes are popular vacation spots for fishing, sailing, boating, camping, and swimming. MUSIC - Dover has two outstanding musical organizations besides its school groups. The Tuscarawas County Philharmonic Orchestra, the Dover Concert Band. LIBRARY - a modern library contains 55,000 volumes plus records, microfilm and film collections. UNIVERSITY - Kent State, Tuscarawas County Branch, located in neighboring New Philadelphia. Ashland College Branch, located in neighboring Strasburg.