Dover is a town in Norfolk
County
, Massachusetts
, United
States
. The population was 5,558 at the 2000
census.
Located
about southwest of downtown Boston
, Dover is a residential town nestled on the south
banks of the Charles River.
Almost all of the residential zoning requires or larger. As
recently as the early 1960s, 75% of its annual town budget was
allocated to snow removal, as only a mile and a half of the town's
roads are
state highway. The nickname
of Dover is the town of friendship.
For
geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Dover,
please see the article Dover 
, Massachusetts.
History
The first recorded settlement of Dover was in 1640. It was later
established as the Springfield Parish of Dedham in 1748, and
incorporated as District Dedham in 1784. Dover was officially
incorporated as a town in 1836.
The Caryl House at 107 Dedham St. dates from about 1777 and was
home to Dover's first minister, Benjamin Caryl, his son George, who
was the town's first doctor, and their descendants until 1897. It
has been owned by the town and operated by the Historical Society
since 1920. The house retains its architectural integrity and has
been carefully restored to reflect life in the 1790s when the first
two Caryl families lived and worked there together.
The Sawin Building has been a home for thousands of Dover relics,
books, photographs and artifacts since the beginning of the 20th
century. Benjamin and Eudora Sawin willed land and funds to the
Dover Historical Society along with their old household goods so
that the building could be erected, and it was dedicated on May 14,
1907 by members and friends of the Dover Historical Society.In the
early years it was used for meetings and to house Dover's
historical memorabilia, but eventually members became disenchanted
with the Society and the building was seldom opened. In the 1960s
there was a renewed interest in the Historical Society which led to
the general overhaul and refurbishing of the building. The Sawin
Museum, located at the corner of Centre and Dedham Streets in Dover
Center, is owned and operated by the Dover Historical Society and
is open to the public free of charge.
Geography
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of
15.4
square miles
(39.9
km²), of which, 15.3 square
miles (39.7 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles
(0.2 km²) of it (0.52%) is water.
It is bordered by the
towns of Natick
, Wellesley
, Needham
, Dedham
, Westwood
, Sherborn
, Walpole
, and Medfield
.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 5,558
people, 1,849 households, and 1,567 families residing in the town.
The
population density was 362.6
people per square mile (140.0/km²). There were 1,884 housing units
at an average density of 122.9/sq mi (47.5/km²). The racial
makeup of the town was 95.18%
White, 0.41%
Black or
African American, 0.04%
Native American (2 people),
3.63%
Asian, 0.02%
Pacific Islander, 0.05% from
other races, and 0.67%
from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 1.19% of the
population (approximately 105 people).
There were 1,849 households out of which 46.0% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 77.0% were
married couples living together, 5.5% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 15.2% were non-families.
12.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.9% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 3.01 and the average family size was 3.29.
In the town the population was spread out with 31.6% under the age
of 18, 3.7% from 18 to 24, 23.9% from 25 to 44, 29.6% from 45 to
64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was
40 years. For every 100 females there were 95.2 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $141,818, and the
median income for a family was $157,168. Males had a median income
of $100,000 versus $56,473 for females. The
per capita income for the town was
$64,899. About 2.3% of families and 3.0% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 2.5%
of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.
Politics
Dover is one of the few communities in metro Boston to have more
registered
Republicans than
Democrats.
In 2008 Dover narrowly voted for Democrat
Barack Obama with 51% of the vote to Republican
John McCain with 48% of the vote.
Dover is
located in Norfolk County, which is one of the more conservative counties in
Massachusetts.
Education
Dover's public schools are well regarded and score well on
standardized tests
[45744]. It has three schools—Chickering
Elementary School (grades K-5), Dover-Sherborn Middle School (6-8),
and Dover-Sherborn High School (9-12).
Located near Caryl
Park and the entrance to Noanet Woodlands (also known as Miss.
Peabody's Woods), Chickering School is under the elected Dover
School Committee, while the two secondary schools are the
responsibility of the regional school system, under the elected
Dover-Sherborn Regional School Committee, with costs and governance
shared with the neighboring town of Sherborn. The Regional schools share a campus on Farm
Street in Dover, near the borders with Sherborn and Medfield.
Dover Sherborn High School ranked 3rd in Cost Efficiency and 7th in
Academic Performance by Boston Magazine. US News and World Report
named Dover-Sherborn High School a Gold Medal School, ranking them
65th in the nation.
Dover used to have two elementary schools, Chickering for grades K
to 3, and Caryl Elementary School for grades 4 to 6. Caryl School,
however, was closed after Chickering was expanded and
renovated.
The private, independent
Charles
River School is also located in Dover, in the town
center.
Notable former residents
References
-
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/election_results/ma_president/
Boston Globe article re: top-scoring schools in 10th-grade MCAS
exam
[45745]
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