The first meeting place for the people of Dover was in the
basement of the present Dover Church at the two
windows to the left.
IN 1836 WHEN THE DISTRICT OF DOVER became a Town, Public Meetings were held in the First Parish Meeting House, the Church. It was not until January 20, 1839 that the Town finally had an opportunity to have its own Town house. That came on the heels of a major disaster when the Parish Meeting House burned down.
After the smoke cleared both the Town and Parish decided it would be a good idea for the town to build its Town house in the basement of the new Church, the present Dover Church building. On March 16, 1839 committees representing the Town and the Parish signed an Agreement:
"... the Town shall forever thereafter have and hold
the sole use, control and improvement
of the Town house, and the First Congregational Parish the sole use control
and
improvement of the meeting house....."
Dover's first Town hall was twenty-five feet nine inches wide and extended the forty foot width of the church at the rear (north) side. The outside walls were of red brick with two windows on either side. Stairs led up to ground level from the underground floor, and the ceiling was only eight feet high.
"....Said Town house to be entered by door, or doors,
to be placed only under the northerly
end of the house, And to secure the Meetinghouse against destruction by fire,
the Committee
of the first part, in behalf of the Town, engage, that should the Town place
a stove and funnel
in the Town house, it shall be constructed and located in a manner always
acceptable to any
committee of the parish for the time being...."
The First Town house was occupied in December 1839, and though it proved
to be damp and poorly ventilated
for meetings it served the Town for over forty years.
The first meeting place for the people of Dover was in
the
basement of the present Dover Church at the two
windows to the left.