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History of Dover, Massachusetts, USA
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Dover, Norfolk, MA
Dover’s history goes back over 350 years. It was first settled around 1635 and was originally part of the Dedham Grant. Prior to its incorporation as a Town, the area was named Springfield because it was predominantly a farming community with open fields centered around the "bubbling springs" of Trout Brook. It was incorporated as a Town in 1836. The chairman of the Springfield Parish committee chose the name "Dover" in honor of his ancestral home in England. doverma.org
Dover includes: Farm Street Station
netronline.com/ mass_lookup.htm
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Discover Dover: History, News, Travel, and Stories

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1635 - Dover is settled
Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates
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1784 - Dover is incorporated
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1839 - Dover
Dover, Massachusetts
Norfolk county. Dover lies 5 miles W. from Dedham and 14 S.S.W. from Boston. It was taken from Dedham in 1784. This town is bounded northerly by Charles river, and in it are manufactures of nails, iron hoops and rods, ploughs, brushes, boots and shoes. Total amount of manufactures in 1836, $99,558. The surface of Dover is uneven, and a large part of it covered with wood. Population, 1837, 518.
The New England Gazetteer containing descriptions of all the states, counties and towns in New England: also descriptions of the principal mountains, rivers lakes, capes, bays, harbors, islands and fashionable resorts within that territory. Alphabetically arranged. By John Hayward, author of the Columbian Traveller, Religious Creeds, &c. &c. Boston: John Hayward. Boyd & White, Concord, N.H. 1839
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1845 - DOVER. [Pop. 520. Inc. 1784.]
Dover was originally a part of Dedham.
It is situated on the Charles, and its chief manufactures are of iron. The land is well wooded and uneven; one elevation, called Pine Hill, rising 400 feet above Charles River.
Distance from Dedham, 5 miles ; from Boston, 14.
An Elementary Geography for Massachusetts Children by William Bentley Fowle and Asa Fitz, 1845
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1848 - Dover
DOVER was originally a part of Dedham; it was incorporated as a precinct in 1748, and as a town in 1784. The church was embodied in 1762, and Rev. Benjamin Caryl was its minister the same year. He continued in the pastoral office 41 years, and was succeeded by Rev. Ralph Sanger, who was settled here in 1812. The surface of this township is uneven, and a considerable portion of it is covered with wood. Pine Hill, in this town and Medfield, is 400 feet above Charles river. Population, 518. Distance, 5 miles from Dedham, and 14 from Boston. In 1837, there was a nail factory, which manufactured 300 tons, valued at $36,000; hands employed, 14; capital invested, $30,000. There is also a rolling mill, which manufactured 500 tons of hoops, rods, &c.; the value of which is $55,000.
Historical Collections Relating to the History... John Warner Barber, Worcester, Warren Lazell, 1848
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1854 - Dover
Dover, a post-township of Norfolk county, Massachusetts, 15 miles S. W. of Boston. Population, 1927.
A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States: Giving a Full and Comprehensive Review of the Present Condition, Industry, and Resources of the American Confederacy ... Thomas Baldwin (of Philadelphia.) Joseph Thomas January 1, 1854 Philadelphia : Lippincott, Grambo & Company 1854.
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Dover Massachusetts, 1890
Dover is a pleasant rural town lying in the northwest part of Norfolk County, about 14 miles southwest of Boston by the Woonsocket Division of the New York and New England Railroad, which passes through the midst of the town. It has Needham on the north, Dedham on the east, Walpole and Medfield on the south, and Sherborn and Natick on the west. Charles River divides this town from Needham and also from Sherborn. The assessed area is 8,986 acres, including 3,016 acres of woodland, mostly oak.
The surface of the town is somewhat rocky and uneven. Snow's Hill, a little southwest of the centre, has an altitude of 449 feet. The rock is sienite and sandstone; and iron pyrites have been found. A curiosity of the town is Nimrod Rock . another is a beautiful boiling spring near the centre of the town, which flows into Trout Brook, an affluent of Charles River; and a third is the Great Spring, near the southwest angle of the town, the source of Mill Brook, which enters the Neponset at... Read MORE...
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1895 - Dover
Dover, a post-hamlet of Norfolk co, Mass., in Dover township, on the New York & New England Railroad, 16 miles S.W. of Boston. The township has 3 churches, a pa per-mill, and manufactures of silo governors. Pop. of the township, 727.
Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott
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1916
Dover, a post-village of Norfolk co., Mass., in Dover township (town), on the New York, New Haven and Hartford R., 16 miles SW. of Boston. Pop. of the town in 1900, 656.
Lippincotts New Gazetteer: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World, Containing the Most Recent and Authentic Information Respecting the Countries, Cities, Towns, Resorts, Islands, Rivers, Mountains, Seas, Lakes, Etc., in Every Portion of the Globe, Part 1 Angelo Heilprin Louis Heilprin - January 1, 1916 J.B. Lippincott - Publisher
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1948 - December 24 - 1st US house completely sun-heated is occupied (Dover, Mass)
historyorb.com
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