Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also
the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical
Area, which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the
Delaware River coastal plain. It was named by William Penn for Dover in Kent, England.
As of 2010, the city had a population of 36,047.
History Dover was founded as the court town for newly
established Kent County in 1683 by William Penn, the proprietor of the territory generally
known as the "Lower Counties on the Delaware." Later, in 1717, the city was officially laid
out by a special commission of the Delaware General Assembly. The capital of the state
of Delaware was moved here from Newcastle in 1777 because of its central location and
relative safety from British raiders on the Delaware River. Because of an act passed in
October 1779, the assembly elected to meet at any place in the state they saw fit, meeting
successively in Wilmington, Lewes, Dover, New Castle, and Lewes again, until it finally
settled down permanently in Dover in October 1781. The city's central square, known as
The Green, was the location of many rallies, troop reviews, and other patriotic events.
To this day, The Green remains the heart of Dover's historic district and is the location
of the Delaware Supreme Court and the Kent County Courthouse.
Dover was most famously the home of Caesar Rodney, the popular wartime leader of Delaware
during the American Revolution. He is known to have been buried outside Dover, but the
precise location of his grave is unknown. A cenotaph in his honor is erected in the
cemetery of the Christ Episcopal Church near The Green in Dover.
Dover and Kent County were deeply divided over the issue of slavery, and the city was
a "stop" on the Underground Railroad because of its proximity to slave-holding Maryland
and free Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It was also home to a large Quaker community that
encouraged a sustained emancipation effort in the early 19th century. There were very
few slaves in the area, but the institution was supported, if not practiced, by a small
majority, who saw to its continuation. The Bradford-Loockerman House, Building 1301,
Dover Air Force Base, John Bullen House, Carey Farm Site, Christ Church, Delaware State Museum
Buildings, John Dickinson House, Dover Green Historic District, Eden Hill, Delaware Governor's
Mansion, Greenwold, Hughes-Willis Site, Loockerman Hall, Macomb Farm, Mifflin-Marim Agricultural
Complex, Old Statehouse, Palmer Home, Town Point, Tyn Head Court, and Victorian Dover
Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Geography Dover is located at 39°09′43″N 75°31′36″W.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 22.7 square miles,
of which 22.4 square miles is land and 0.3 square miles, or 1.32%, is water.
Dover has a humid subtropical climate with four distinct seasons. Winters are mild, with
conditions moderated by the Delaware Bay and the partial shielding of the Appalachians,
though there are normally 8−9 days where temperatures stay at or below freezing all
day and 15 nights with lows below 20 °F. Snow is typically light and sporadic, averaging
15.7 inches per season, and does not usually remain on the ground for long. Spring and
autumn provide transitions of reasonable length and are similar, though spring is more wet.
Summers are hot and humid, with 23 days per year reaching or surpassing 90 °F. The monthly
mean temperature ranges from 35.2 °F in January to 77.7 °F in July. The annual total
precipitation of around 46 inches is spread rather evenly year-round.
Demographics In 2010, Dover had a population of 36,047
people. The racial makeup of the city was 48.3% White, 42.2% African American, 0.5%
Native American, 2.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.1% from other races, and 4.1%
from two or more races. 6.6% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
As of the census of 2000, there were 32,135 people, 12,340 households, and 7,502 families
residing in the city. The population density was 1,435.0 people per square mile. There
were 13,195 housing units at an average density of 589.2 per square mile. The racial makeup
of the city was 54.94% White, 37.22% African American, 0.45% Native American, 3.16% Asian,
0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.57% from other races, and 2.62% from two or more races. 4.13% of
the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 12,340 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living
with them, 40.4% were married couples living together, 16.7% had a female householder with
no husband present, and 39.2% were non-families. 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals
and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household
size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the city of Dover the population was spread out with 23.5% under the age of 18, 15.7%
from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years
of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 88.9 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $38,669, and the median income for a family
was $48,338. Males had a median income of $34,824 versus $26,061 for females. The per
capita income for the city was $19,445. About 11.5% of families and 13.8% of the population
were below the poverty line, including 19.6% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age
65 or over. Government
Dover is governed via the manager-council system with an elected mayor, currently Robin
R. Christiansen since 2014. The council consists of nine members, eight of whom are elected
from districts with each district having two members. One member of the council is elected
at large. There have been three full-time Mayors of
Dover to date: James "Hutch" Hutchison from 1994 to 2004; Stephen Speed from 2004 to 2007;
Carleton Carey from 2007 to 2014; Robin R. Christiansen - presently .
The mayor is elected directly by the city voters for a two-year term. Municipal elections
are held every year, with half the city council members up for re-election each year.
Federally, Dover is part of Delaware's At-large congressional district, represented by Democrat
John Carney, elected in 2010 and a former lieutenant governor of Delaware.
The state's senior member of the United States Senate is Democrat Tom Carper, elected in
2000. The state's junior member of the United States Senate is Democrat Chris Coons. The
governor of Delaware is Democrat Jack Markell, elected in 2008.
Economy
Delaware's largest employer is also Dover's – the state government. A large portion,
but not all, of the state's bureaucracy is located in and around Dover. However, like
some other American states, Delaware's capital is not its largest city. Consequently, Wilmington,
in the northern part of the state and its largest city, has many state offices and employees
one would normally expect to find in the state capital, including the headquarters of the
Office of the Attorney General, especially as many large American corporations maintain
nominal offices in that city to register their Delaware corporation.
Dover is one of the fast-growing areas in the state of Delaware, due in large part to
the relatively low cost of living. As a consequence, the Kent County government is a major employer
in the area as well. Apart from the state and county governments, Dover's significant
employers include Dover Air Force Base, located within the southeast corporate limits of the
city. The base houses two airlift wings as well as the U.S. military's only mortuary
in the continental United States, which accepts and processes the remains of soldiers killed
in battle. In addition, Kraft Foods and Procter & Gamble have manufacturing facilities in
Dover. ILC Dover, in nearby Frederica, is the producer of fabrics for military and aerospace
uses, along with being the primary contractor for production of the Apollo and Skylab spacesuits,
as well as the spacesuit assembly for the Space Shuttle's Extravehicular Mobility Unit.
Two weekends a year, NASCAR races are held at Dover International Speedway, attracting
close to 100,000 spectators and visitors and temporarily making Dover the state's largest
city. These races, and in recent years adjacent slot machine gambling at Dover Downs Hotel
& Casino, contribute millions of dollars to Dover's economy.
Firefly Music Festival is held in The Woodlands of Dover International Speedway every summer
since 2012. Dover is the only state capital in the United
States with a volunteer fire department. Transportation
The main north–south highway through Dover is U.S. Route 13, which runs through the main
commercial strip of Dover on the multi-lane, divided Dupont Highway. An alternate route
of U.S. Route 13, U.S. Route 13 Alternate, passes through downtown Dover on Governors
Avenue. The Delaware Route 1 turnpike, which provides the main route to Wilmington and
the Delaware beaches, passes to the east of Dover. It ends near the Dover Air Force Base
and DE 1 continues south on Bay Road. U.S. Route 113 formerly ran along Bay Road from
Milford to US 13 near the State Capitol Complex, however it was decommissioned in 2004 to avoid
the concurrency with DE 1 between the Dover Air Force Base and Milford. Delaware Route
8 is the main east–west route through Dover, passing through downtown on Division Street
and West Dover on Forrest Avenue. It continues west toward Maryland to provide access to
the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Dover is one of only four state capitals not served by an
Interstate highway. Pierre, South Dakota; Jefferson City, Missouri; and Juneau, Alaska
are the other three state capitals with this distinction.
Dover Air Force Base is located within the southeast corporate limits of Dover; however,
the closest sizable civilian airport with commercial air service to Dover is the New
Castle Airport in New Castle. Other airports near Dover with commercial air service include
the Wicomico Regional Airport in Salisbury, Maryland, the Baltimore-Washington International
Thurgood Marshall Airport in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Philadelphia International Airport
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dover is located on a former Pennsylvania
Railroad line, which is now served by Norfolk Southern. At one time Dover had a daily Amtrak
passenger service; however, the line now is just used for local freight. The closest passenger
rail station is the Amtrak station in Wilmington. DART First State provides weekday local bus
service throughout Dover, radiating from the Water Street Transfer Center in downtown.
They also provide inter-county service to Wilmington and Georgetown and seasonal service
to Rehoboth Beach. Greyhound Lines are provided as inter-city
bus transportation. Education
Dover is home to Delaware State University, a land-grant university and Delaware's only
historically black university, and Wesley College. It is also home to the Terry Campus
of the Delaware Technical & Community College and that college's administrative offices.
Dover also has satellite locations of the University of Delaware and Wilmington University.
Three public high schools serve Dover residents. Caesar Rodney High School, in the Caesar Rodney
School District; Dover High School, in the Capital School District; and Polytech High
School, in the Polytech School District. The Dover Air Force Base Middle School is
located on the premises of the Dover Air Force Base. This school is unusual in that it is
run not by the Department of Defense, but by the Caesar Rodney School District.
Culture The former Dover Opera House, built in 1904,
was renovated and converted to the Schwartz Center for the Arts, which hosts performances
by the Dover Symphony Orchestra, ballet, and classic films.
Dover is also home to The Children's Theatre, Inc. of Dover and Kent County, a non-profit
organization. The Delaware State Library, the Delaware State
Museum, and the Delaware State Archives are in downtown Dover and are open to the public
for research and browsing. In Dover's historical district is the Sewell
C. Biggs Museum of American Art, featuring collections from the Colonial days to the
present. Media
Two newspapers are headquartered in Dover, the Dover Post, printed weekly and online,
and the daily Delaware State News. WBOC-TV maintains a bureau in Dover, and WHYY-TV maintains
a studio and broadcasting facility in Dover. WDDE, Delaware's first NPR station, launched
in August 2012. It broadcasts on 91.1 FM. Delaware was the last state in the nation
to have an NPR station located within its borders.
Sports
Dover International Speedway is home to two NASCAR race weekends, one in the Spring and
one in the Fall. Within Dover International Speedway is Dover Downs, a harness horse racing
track, hotel and casino. The two colleges in town are both active in
sports, with Wesley being a perennial powerhouse in its conference in Division III football
and Delaware State making the FCS playoffs for the first time in 2007.
For one week during the middle of July every year, Dover also hosts the Big League Eastern
Regionals, attracting teams from all of New England and the Mid-Atlantic.
There are several golf courses located near Dover. They include the Maple Dale Country
Club in Dover, Wild Quail Country Club near Camden, Jonathan's Landing Golf Course near
Magnolia, Dover Center Par 3 and Driving Range in Dover, and the Dover Air Base Golf Course
on the Dover Air Force Base. Historically, Dover hosted a farm team of
the Philadelphia Phillies in the Eastern Shore Baseball League. It also served as a minor-league
affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. The teams were variously known as the Senators, Dobbins,
Orioles, and Phillies. In 2008 Sporting News ranked Dover 215th in
its list of the 400 Best Sports Cities based on the year October 2007 - October 2008, a
year which saw high attendance for the NASCAR races and Delaware State's football team making
its first FCS tournament appearance. Combat Zone Wrestling held its yearly Tournament
of Death in Dover twice. Notable people
Madison Brengle, rising tennis star playing for the Delaware Smash
Robert Crumb, underground artist who lived in Dover from 1959–1961
Nathan Macias, Texas politician and former commander of the 436th Civil Engineer Squadron
at Dover Air Force Base Mike Meade, NFL player born in Dover
Teri Polo, actress born in Dover Ian Snell, Seattle Mariners pitcher
Rob Tornoe, nationally syndicated, award-winning cartoonist who attended Dover High School
Doug Hutchison, actor born in Dover Cultural references
George Carlin referred to Dover, Delaware as the destination for an all-expenses paid
holiday in a comedy routine spoofing a quiz show, and country music singer Garth Brooks
refers to the city in the song "Cold Shoulder" on his 1991 album, Ropin' the Wind. English
folksinger Jez Lowe references the city as the host of Dover Air Force Base in his anti-war
song "Dover, Delaware" References
External links City of Dover
Dover Air Force Base Delaware State News
Delaware State University Wesley College
Delaware Technical & Community College The Schwartz Center for the Arts
Biggs Museum of American Art Kent County & Greater Dover Convention and
Visitors Bureau Dover Fire Department