Dover (Massachusetts)

Dover is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,279 in 2016, with 2,008 households and 4,296 registered voters.Located about 15mi 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 1acre 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.Dover is bordered by: Natick, Wellesley and Needham to the North, Westwood to the East, Walpole and Medfield to the South, Sherborn to the West.For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Dover, please see the article Dover (CDP), Massachusetts.Dover is also home to the Dover Demon.HistoryThe 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 Benjamin 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.