Dover, Ohio
Encyclopedia
Dover is a city in Tuscarawas County
, Ohio
, United States
. The population was 12,210 at the 2000 census.
, who had received it from the federal government for Revolutionary War services. In 1802, two brothers-in-law from Baltimore, Maryland, Christian Deardorff and Jesse Slingluff, traveled through the area and so admired the potential quality of the land along the confluence
of the Tuscarawas River
and Sugarcreek that they bought 2000 acres (8.1 km²) of land in 1806 for just over $4,600. The brothers-in-law settled there and the following year laid out the what they hoped would become a prosperous town.
It took a while; by 1818, there were only five buildings in Dover, including three taverns. The founders had hoped Dover would become the county seat, but that honor went to the neighboring town of New Philadelphia.
The county grew, even if Dover did not. The region around Tuscarawas country was settled in large part by ethnic German
and Moravian
families migrating westward from Pennsylvania. Even today, the local telephone book features many German last names.
Dover's fortunes changed dramatically when the Tuscarawas River
was incorporated into the Ohio Canal system in 1825. This canal complex linked the Ohio River
to the Great Lakes
and the Erie Canal
. Dover became the only tolling station on the Tuscarawas, and the population grew rapidly from 46 in 1820 to almost 600 in 1840. The town was known as Canal Dover for many years, partly to distinguish it from other Ohio settlements that had adopted the same name.
A series of mills was built along the Tuscarawas. This began the transition of Dover from an agricultural and trade center to a thriving industrial community. Although the canal system declined with the coming of the railroad, the entire region
, stretching from Pittsburgh to Cleveland and on to Detroit, became a center of heavy industry. By the mid 1850s, Dover already had its first blast furnace
for making steel
and had established a steel
rolling mill in 1867.
Dover was formally incorporated as a city in 1901. By the middle of the 20th century, Dover featured a variety of heavy industries. These included a clay pipe works, various machinery and chemical manufacturers, and a pair of specialty steel companies.
Despite its industrial base, Dover remained heavily influenced by the nearby agricultural communities, particularly the Amish
and Mennonite
communities in Sugarcreek
. Such communities extended to Amish-dominated Holmes County
. Today, however, agriculture plays a much less prominent role in Dover than in years past.
In recent years, Dover has been affected by the decline in heavy industry in the region, but continues to grow and diversity its economic base.
Dover remains proud of its traditions and heritage. Nowhere is that more evident than each year when its residents come to see the "Tornadoes" of Dover High School
take on the archrival "Quakers" of New Philadelphia
in a football game that has been played annually for more than a century.
, near the mouth of Sugar Creek
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 5.3 square miles (13.7 km²), of which, 5.3 square miles (13.7 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (1.31%) is water.
As of the census
of 2000, there were 12,210 people, 4,996 households, and 3,362 families residing in the city. The population density
was 2,319.6 people per square mile (896.3/km²). There were 5,233 housing units at an average density of 994.2 per square mile (384.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.09% White, 1.27% African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.20% from other races
, and 0.66% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.60% of the population.
There were 4,996 households out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.4% were married couples
living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 28.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 19.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 86.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,665, and the median income for a family was $44,604. Males had a median income of $34,579 versus $22,397 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $18,928. About 7.5% of families and 9.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.1% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.
Tuscarawas County, Ohio
Tuscarawas County is a county located in the eastern part of the state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 92,582. Its county seat is New Philadelphia...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 12,210 at the 2000 census.
History and features
Dover was originally part of a grant to Col. James Morrison of KentuckyKentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, who had received it from the federal government for Revolutionary War services. In 1802, two brothers-in-law from Baltimore, Maryland, Christian Deardorff and Jesse Slingluff, traveled through the area and so admired the potential quality of the land along the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of the Tuscarawas River
Tuscarawas River
The Tuscarawas River is a principal tributary of the Muskingum River, 129.9 miles long, in northeastern Ohio in the United States...
and Sugarcreek that they bought 2000 acres (8.1 km²) of land in 1806 for just over $4,600. The brothers-in-law settled there and the following year laid out the what they hoped would become a prosperous town.
It took a while; by 1818, there were only five buildings in Dover, including three taverns. The founders had hoped Dover would become the county seat, but that honor went to the neighboring town of New Philadelphia.
The county grew, even if Dover did not. The region around Tuscarawas country was settled in large part by ethnic German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
and Moravian
Moravians (ethnic group)
Moravians are the modern West Slavic inhabitants of the historical land of Moravia, the easternmost part of the Czech Republic, which includes the Moravian Slovakia. They speak the two main groups of Moravian dialects , the transitional Bohemian-Moravian dialect subgroup and standard Czech...
families migrating westward from Pennsylvania. Even today, the local telephone book features many German last names.
Dover's fortunes changed dramatically when the Tuscarawas River
Tuscarawas River
The Tuscarawas River is a principal tributary of the Muskingum River, 129.9 miles long, in northeastern Ohio in the United States...
was incorporated into the Ohio Canal system in 1825. This canal complex linked the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
to the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
and the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
. Dover became the only tolling station on the Tuscarawas, and the population grew rapidly from 46 in 1820 to almost 600 in 1840. The town was known as Canal Dover for many years, partly to distinguish it from other Ohio settlements that had adopted the same name.
A series of mills was built along the Tuscarawas. This began the transition of Dover from an agricultural and trade center to a thriving industrial community. Although the canal system declined with the coming of the railroad, the entire region
Rust Belt
The Rust Belt is a term that gained currency in the 1980s as the informal description of an area straddling the Midwestern and Northeastern United States, in which local economies traditionally garnered an increased manufacturing sector to add jobs and corporate profits...
, stretching from Pittsburgh to Cleveland and on to Detroit, became a center of heavy industry. By the mid 1850s, Dover already had its first blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
for making steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
and had established a steel
rolling mill in 1867.
Dover was formally incorporated as a city in 1901. By the middle of the 20th century, Dover featured a variety of heavy industries. These included a clay pipe works, various machinery and chemical manufacturers, and a pair of specialty steel companies.
Despite its industrial base, Dover remained heavily influenced by the nearby agricultural communities, particularly the Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
and Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
communities in Sugarcreek
Sugarcreek, Ohio
Sugarcreek is a village in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,174 at the 2000 census. It is known as "The Little Switzerland of Ohio."-History:...
. Such communities extended to Amish-dominated Holmes County
Holmes County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 38,943 people, 11,337 households, and 9,194 families residing in the county. The population density was 92 people per square mile . There were 12,280 housing units at an average density of 29 per square mile...
. Today, however, agriculture plays a much less prominent role in Dover than in years past.
In recent years, Dover has been affected by the decline in heavy industry in the region, but continues to grow and diversity its economic base.
Dover remains proud of its traditions and heritage. Nowhere is that more evident than each year when its residents come to see the "Tornadoes" of Dover High School
Dover High School (Ohio)
Dover High School is a public high school in Dover, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Dover City Schools district. The school's mascot is The Tornadoes, and the school colors are crimson and gray. The Dover High School Alma Mater was composed by L. H...
take on the archrival "Quakers" of New Philadelphia
New Philadelphia, Ohio
New Philadelphia is a city in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States, 71 miles south of Cleveland on the Tuscarawas River. It was first incorporated in 1808. Coal and clay are found in the vicinity...
in a football game that has been played annually for more than a century.
Geography
Dover is located at 40°31′36"N 81°28′40"W (40.526545, -81.477769), along the Tuscarawas RiverTuscarawas River
The Tuscarawas River is a principal tributary of the Muskingum River, 129.9 miles long, in northeastern Ohio in the United States...
, near the mouth of Sugar Creek
Sugar Creek (Ohio)
Sugar Creek is a tributary of the Tuscarawas River in northeastern Ohio in the United States. It is 45 miles long. Via the Tuscarawas, Muskingum, and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 356 square miles on glaciated and unglaciated...
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 5.3 square miles (13.7 km²), of which, 5.3 square miles (13.7 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (1.31%) is water.
Demographics
As of the 2010 census Dover had a population of 12,826. The racial composition of the population was 94.1% white, 1.1% black, 0.6% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.6% Guamanian, 0.1% Samoan, 1.7% from some other race and 1.4% from two or more races. 4.1% of the population was Hispanic or Latino.As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 12,210 people, 4,996 households, and 3,362 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 2,319.6 people per square mile (896.3/km²). There were 5,233 housing units at an average density of 994.2 per square mile (384.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.09% White, 1.27% African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.20% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.66% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.60% of the population.
There were 4,996 households out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.4% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 28.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 19.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 86.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,665, and the median income for a family was $44,604. Males had a median income of $34,579 versus $22,397 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $18,928. About 7.5% of families and 9.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.1% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.
Notable residents
- Elwyn BerlekampElwyn BerlekampElwyn Ralph Berlekamp is an American mathematician. He is a professor emeritus of mathematics and EECS at the University of California, Berkeley. Berlekamp is known for his work in information theory and combinatorial game theory....
, mathematician - Ernie GodfreyErnie Godfrey-External links:...
, college football coach, College Football Hall of FameCollege Football Hall of FameThe College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move... - Ray MearsRay Mears (coach)Ray Mears was a former collegiate basketball coach at Wittenberg University and the University of Tennessee . His career record of 399-135 still ranks among the top 15 all-time NCAA coaching records for those with a minimum of 10 seasons...
, college basketball coach - Elliott NugentElliott NugentElliott Nugent was an American actor, writer, and film director. He successfully made the transition from silent film to sound. He directed The Cat and the Canary , starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard...
, playwright, producer and actor - Bob Peterson, animator, screenwriter, director, PixarPixarPixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
- William QuantrillWilliam QuantrillWilliam Clarke Quantrill was a Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War. After leading a Confederate bushwhacker unit along the Missouri-Kansas border in the early 1860s, which included the infamous raid and sacking of Lawrence, Kansas in 1863, Quantrill eventually ended up in...
, guerrilla fighter, American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25... - Mark Dean Schwab, child rapist and murderer
- Zack SpaceZack SpaceZachary T. "Zack" Space is an American politician and the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2007 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life, education and career:...
, U.S. Representative, Ohio's 18th congressional districtOhio's 18th congressional districtThe 18th congressional district of Ohio is currently represented by Republican Bob Gibbs. The district ranges around the eastern part of Ohio, taking in a collection of small cities and rural areas. The district voted for the majority party in the House of Representatives in every election since...