Dover Morris County New Jersey

There are some 88 Dover's throughout the world, that I know of including two in New Jersey. One is in Ocean County and the other in Morris County. The Mayor of Dover, England Jan Tranter (2006-7) and her husband, Cllr Ken Tranter, visited Dover Morris County, in September 2006.

Dover, Morris County is 39 miles west by north of New York City on the Rockaway River. Originally, inhabited by the Lenape Indians, in 1722, a 23 year old entrepreneur, John Jackson built a log cabin and a settlement called 'Old Tye' grew. Not long afterwards, iron ore was found which was forged into canon balls for George Washington's army, and used against the British during the American Revolution (1776-1783).

When Moses Hurd, an iron miner arrived from Dover, New Hampshire (see Dover

Mercury 04.05.2006) in the early 1800s, the place was called Beamans. However, Moses set about turning the conglomeration of miners' huts into an officially recognised village. This he did and in 1826 Dover was born.

Not long afterwards streets were mapped out and lots were sold, while iron brought industrialist's, including George Richards. He sought to turn the village into an 'independent town' with its own government and public services. George was successful and he became the first Mayor in 1869.

Dover grew and by 1962, when the Kent Messenger did a feature, it boasted of extensive ironworks; machine shops; rolling mills; knitting and silk mills as well as large hosiery and overall factories. At that time, the most

important employer was Picatinny Arsenal, with 8,000 workers, supplying ammunition for the US armed forces.

Now, like many towns and cities in the UK, the days of heavy manufacturing are over and coming to terms with this has been very hard. Although much of the town's residential areas are closely built rows of houses; typical of a manufacturing town the population (some 18,000) are very friendly and close knit. Dover's downtown areais renowned for its ethnic restaurants and cafes and flea market. Recently, Hilton Hotels have opened an extended stay hotel and a new office block is being built. It is also hoped that Federal Express will be opening a distribution centre, creating 300 new jobs.

However, it is Dover's dogs, that have traditionally have stood guard over the town, which our Mayor, Jan Tranter, is going to rededicate in September. Their story goes back to 1869 and Mayor George Richards. When he was seeking to gain town status for Dover, the New York Times took up the story. Eventually, this found its way into one of our local papers and our Mayor, John Birmingham, organised a collection. From this Mayor Birmingham bought two white mastiff dogs which he presented to Mayor Richards. Sculptures, about aft (1.1m) high, were made of the dogs and it is these that guard the town. Unfortunately, time and vandals have taken their toll but the dogs have now been restored.