Located on Butter Road in Alda Ketterman Park

 2003

 2008

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Proceeding down Butter Rd., the second stop on the tour is 46 Butter Rd., the Dover Borough Office Council Building. This building was previously the Band Hall for the Dover Band, a community band. Sylvan Tate Strayer, grandfather of borough resident Kay Stitley, played the trombone in the band. Later Faith Tabernacle, a Pentecostal church, occupied the building for seven to eight years before it was purchased by the Borough in 1974.

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 2007

 2007

Next on Butter Rd., behind the house on the corner of 64 N. Queen Street, is the former site of the Blacksmith Shop, now a vacant lot. The shop originally stood on the corner of Butter Road and Queen Street, Harry Neiman had rolled back to the adjoining lot on Butter Road and built the Sears & Roebuck house that currently at 64 N. Queen Street. During the winter of 2003, due to heavy snow, the Blacksmith Shop's roof collapsed. Mrs. Donald Kann, the current owner, donated the building to the Greater Dover Historical Society Society members dismantled the the structure that same year, stored the lumber for two years and then proceeded to build at the current location. On May 21, 2005 the framing of the building was completed with the help of many volunteers. Mr, Ben Brown supervised the project. Progressive Services of Dover, PA donated the standing seam roof. Don Miller of Penn Snyder Construction Built the forge and Jonathan Arn of Better Builders, Inc. built the chimney. Glen-Gery Brick donated all the brick for the forge, sidewalk, and floor. 

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Located at 61 N. Main Street

 2007

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 2005

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54 N. Main St. was the home of Grass’s Candy & Bakery Shop. The ovens were located to the rear of the house in a small unattached building.

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2007

54 1/2 N. Main Street was Aughenbaugh’s Store. Food, candy, soda, shoes, boots, hardware, ribbon, and lamp oil were sold here. Under the porch behind the lattice work is a metal ring that was used to tie up horses and a piece of metal that was used to scrape the mud from boots. Right next to the porch in a separate building are cellar doors which at one time served as a coal chute.

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 1983

A building behind the property shown below at the corner of Mayfield & 48-50 N. Main St. housed Hershey’s Bakery. It is no longer standing.

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The Dover Garage at 44 N. Main St. was the livery stable where travelers passing through Dover from as far away as Baltimore and Philadelphia would stop to pick up a horse or horse and carriage. Dover was the end of the line for the street car from York, PA. The next building at 38 N. Main St. was the site of the National House Hotel. The house that stands here now was built using the stone from the old hotel.

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Located at 38 N. Main Street

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Across the street at 41 & 43 N. Main St. was a general store then known as Daron’s of Dover where the proprietors sold beautiful dishes along with fabric, thread and household items.

Mr. Artzberger bought the building and ran a restaurant there for many years. His daughter and her husband bought the restaurant which subsequently became Butch Myer’s Pool Hall as well as a restaurant. Patrons played pool and cards in a room at the rear. A food bar occupied the left side of the building. When a couple ordered sodas, the lady would get the straw and the gentleman had to drink out of the bottle.

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Dr. Lewis Herrold and Dr. Nathan G. Wallace, both general practitioners, lived in the next house at 36 N. Main St. Dr. Wallace opened his Dover practice in 1883. He was a well to do man. When he passed away, he left his money in trust to be used in the service of the community of Dover. Most notably, Dr. Wallace donated the money for the bell at the Calvary Lutheran Church.

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Located at 35 N. Main Street

The Ray Bitting Insurance agency has occupied the building at 35. N. Main St. since 1988. It had once been used as a hatter’s shop. A butcher shop once stood on the site behind the house.

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Located at 29 N. Main Street

29 N. Main St. was owned by David Brillhart. In 1912 he operated The Oyster Parlor in this building and in the same year connected it to a factory for making hosiery which he operated for several years. The factory made stockings for both men and women.

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Located at 28 N. Main Street

The next stop at 28 N. Main St. is now a flower shop. In 1954 it was owned by Leroy Walton and served as a cigar factory. After the cigar factory closed, it was occupied by a jewelry store, then Dave’s Shoe Store and finally, currently, the Golden Carriage flower shop.

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Located at 20 N. Main Street

 1983

 2007

Susie Latshaw lived at 20 N. Main St. and sold Larkin’s products ranging from soap to packaged food to household products. She was the first person in town to sell pudding and Jell-O. Susie was known to use a broom to chase off anyone caught trespassing on her property. If nothing else, young trespassers learned to respect the property of others.

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Located at 21 N. Main Street

21 N. Main St, currently the home of Pizza Express, it was once the home of Dellinger’s Motors, and Crone’s Furniture Store where at one time P. A. Lauer was the town undertaker and a furniture maker. At Christmas time the windows were decorated with toys, including an American Flyer train displayed under the huge Christmas tree. In the late 1800’s there was a buggy shop in the rear of the building and also a blacksmith shop.

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Across the street at 9 N. Main St. is Calvary Lutheran Church. This church is 107 years old, one of the oldest churches in the borough. It was built in 1900 at a cost of $8000. The bell in the church tower was donated by Dr. Samuel Wallace of the noted Wallace family. The clock was bought by the Dover citizens.

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Located at 5 N. Main Street

 2007

Next at 5 N. Main St. is the Englehart Melchinger house which is listed on the National Register of Historic places. The building’s architecture is in the Italianate Greek Revival style. Englehart Melchinger was a prominent 19^th c. businessman who acquired personal wealth through a number of successful business pursuits. During the Civil War, in July of 1863, J.E.B. Stuart used this home for his office during his brief stay in Dover. It has been reported this house was once part of the underground railroad.

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Located at 6 N. Main Street

6 N. Main St. was Dr. John Ahl’s office where he cared for wounded Civil War soldiers. This building has also served as a drug store and a post office.

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Located at 1 N. Main Street

1 N. Main St. is currently the site of Laird’s Security Vault and was the site of the first separate post office building in the Dover Borough. Previously, post offices were located in private homes. Mail came to the post office by horse and wagon. B & S Racing Collectibles, CC Kottcamp and Detter’s TV Shop later occupied this building.

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Located at 2 S. Main Street

Across the square at 2 S. Main St. is Botterbusch Jewelry Store. In the early 1800’s, at the rear of this building, Peter Wiest opened a store. In 1843 during a terrible snow storm, a fire broke out destroying Mr. Wiest’s merchandise. During this fire the tavern located across the square also burned. Persevering in spite of this tragedy, Mr. Wiest eventually moved his business to York and started the P. Wiest Department Store located on W. Market St. just off the square.

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Located at 4 S. Main Street

At 4 S. Main St., now Taylor’s Treasures, a log home housed W. H. Linebaugh’s Store, a soda fountain and restaurant. In 1977 it housed Ernst Pharmacy, followed by the 3 C’s Coin Shop in the 1980’s whose owner, Bill Neuhaus, was murdered during a robbery there.

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Located at 11 S. Main Street

East across the square at 11 S. Main is Tom’s Mobil Station where, on the corner, once stood the Blue Bell Market. In the parking area in front of the store, the Morton Salt delivery man would would write in the parking lot with a box of salt, “Morton was here.” Next door to the Blue Bell Market on S. Main St. was the Hotel Dover. When Herbie Lewis purchased the Market building, he opened up a Western Auto Store on the premises. This structure was demolished and ultimately Tom’s Mobil Station came to occupy the site. In the 1970 there was an Amoco gas station at this location. This particular Dover Borough corner has undergone numerous changes throughout the years.

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1875

 2006

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Located at 31 & 33 S. Main Street

Their son Donald and their daughter Sharon now continue the business. Donald resides at 31 S. Main St., and Sharon lives at 33 S. Main St., once a cigar factory.

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 1983

 2008

Before his retirement, 44 S. Main St. was occupied by Dr. Blair English, a veterinarian. Annie Stambaugh, Dover’s first telephone operator, worked out of this building. She used the old time plug in switchboard. In 1938 she was given a permit to turn on the siren when she received a call for a fire. In the other half of the house, her mother had a millinery shop where all the women came to purchase their hats. The house still has the big mirror on the wall and the shelves where she displayed the hats. Cemented into the garage foundation at the back of the house is a headstone which reads, “John Henry Died Nov. 12 1853(?).Is this a true grave site? No one knows.

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50 S. Main St. was the first location of Emig Funeral Home, later moved to E. Canal Street, then to its present location on 47 Queen St.

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Located at 54 S. Main Street

A headstone stands in the back yard of the house at 54 S. Main St. It marks the resting place of Clayton Berkheimer who, according to the marker, died July 30, 1891 at age 3 months. The marker may have been relocated here from a cemetery, but no one is certain.

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The chiropractor office at 56 S. Main St. was once the site of Quickel’s Supply Company, later purchased by Boyd Mundis who renamed it Mundis Supply Company. People came here to sell their grain which in turn it was sold. They also sold animal feed and coal. Later a hardware store, lumber store yard and building glass area were added. They also did millwork on site. After that a pizza shop operated a business in the area of the hardware store until the building caught fire. Then, a real estate office and a soft pretzel shop where Laundromat currently does business.

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Back across the street at 59 S. Main St. was Anna and William Snelbecker’s Store which opened in 1929 during the depression. The owners traded goods in place of money and gave credit when necessary. A variety of merchandise was available to the customers. Anna Snelbecker was also in later years a reporter for several newspapers and continued reporting the local news about Dover and the vicinity until her death. Bill taught an adult education class on stone masonry at the local high school and his students' projects can be seen at the Dover Community Park on W. Canal St. The building also served as a small as a small restaurant in the 1950's. Today it is an apartment building.

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Proceeding up Old Mill St. adjacent to the Laundromat then on to Reservoir Dr. to School Lane and then to the driveway to the Dover High School on W. Canal St. This is the location of 46 W. Canal St. which was the site of the three room school. This building was torn down to make way for an expansion of the High School. The 1^st and 2^nd grades were in one room, 3,4,5 in another, and 6 and 7 in the third room. There were outhouses in the rear of the lot. One for the teachers, one for girls and one large one for boys.  During the summer a "block party" was held with water melon slices for sale and soda in bottles were both iced in a large horse trough.

The original high school was built in 1928-1930 and partially torn down in the late 1950's. Additional remodeling was done in 1960 and 2005.

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Across from the school at 81 W. Canal St. is Dover Tax Service and KT’s Pizza where the former Decker’s Meat Market and Locker store was located. In the summer customers would appear on the street with coats and gloves to enter the cold storage locker for which they paid a rental fee for freezer space. Students frequented the store at lunch time, but following a serious car accident nearby involving a student during the lunch period, the school instituted closed lunches. The sharp curve (scene of the accident) by the bridge was eliminated when the road was straightened. The original road turns left at the western end of the bridge.

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Located at W. Canal Street

 2005

In back of the church to the left between the church parking lot and Mayfield St. is a small family cemetery. Frederick Stouch (Stough), his wife Eve and Daniel Stouch are buried here. Frederick was a sergeant who served in the First Battalion of the Sixty-first Regiment of Pennsylvania during the War of 1812. At one time a unique and beautiful wrought iron fence framed the small cemetery. Unfortunately, the Dover VFW sold the fence and replaced it with a cable similar to those used by Penn Dot on state roads. The Greater Dover Historical Society is trying to gain the rights to maintain the property and replace the wire cable with a replica of the original fence. The head stones were originally standing, but when they cracked, they were placed flat in the ground in cement.

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 1983

 2005

Traveling East on W. Canal St. is the site of the old Union Fire and Hose Fire Company at 17 W. Canal St. which began operations in the fall of 1844.The company had a hand pumper called “Old Mason” which it had purchased from the Vigilant Company of York and which was in use until 1885. The Fire House charter was dedicated in 1912; the company continued operations here until 1953. Before the building served as a fire house, it was George Strayer’s buggy shop.

At the rear of 15 W. Canal St. was another blacksmith shop which is no longer standing.

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Across the square at 6 E. Canal S., on a vacant lot and part of Tom’s Service Station parking lot, was the site of the Jacob Joner Council. This was a three story building which originally part of the Dover Hotel. It was for travelers when the main hotel (located on the square) was rented to compacity. The Junior Order of United American Mechanics came into being on Sept. 18, 1907. In 1913 the council organized and equipped a “uniform rank” with forty-five Springfield rifles at the cost of $1.50 each. Members from this group who entered the World War I had some training using fire arms. The council held their meetings on the second floor of the building.

A resident of Dover, Gayle Heagy’s father, owned Emig’s funeral home once located here here in the 1940's and 50's. When citizens passed away, the family would have to move the furniture out of the living room and dining room into small bedrooms, so the funeral could be held in the living room. After the funeral concluded, the furniture was moved back until before long, the space would be needed once again and the process would repeat itself.

 

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At 8 E. Canal St. is Tiny Blessing Day Care Center, once the location of a Western Auto Store and a bicycle shop. Prior to that it was the garden/lawn area of the Jacob Joner building.

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Next at 29 E. Canal St. was Toomey’s Cigar Factory. Their cigars were sent all around the world. Some tobacco used in the production of Toomey cigars was grown in the York area.

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Located at City Hall Drive

The old jail site is located on the alley known as City Hall Drive. In 1904 the jail was built by Hess Brothers. The Hess's celebrated its completion in a local tavern on the square. They drank too much and ended up being the first ones to be incarcerated in the jail house. The 3^rd grade class of Dover Elementary School (1995-1996) had its first walking tour along City Hall Drive and was concerned that the site of the jail was unmarked. Within eight months of its October visit, the class had saved enough money to buy a marker. The marker has cracked over the years due to cold weather. It has been replaced by a replica made by Baughman's Memorial Works. A small iron fence, forged by Theodore Ziegler of Wellsville, PA, now surrounds the marker. During the 1940's and 50's, the jail was used as a storage shed by the Dover Borough. The jail was relocated by the children of Goldie and George Emig, owners of the structures, to the Dover Community Park along W. Canal Road. Dover Township built the foundation and the Emig family had a Amish construction company move the building. After it was placed on the foundation, the mortar was repointed with a colored and style appropriate to it's time period. Later, the Township received a grant from the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission to have the asphalt roof replaced with wood shingles.

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Located at City Hall Drive

The next building to the south on City Hall Drive is where Mr. David Brillhart moved the hosiery shop from Main St. At one time forty to fifty people were hired to make men’s socks. The employees would arrive for work at 5:00a.m., so they could get off before it got hot in the afternoon. Nearby residents would be awakened early in the morning by the humming of sewing machines.

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 2005

37 E. Canal St. was the site of the Keystone Creamery property which was owned by Calvin Hoffman. Farmers brought in milk in eight gallon cans. After the cream was removed, it was used to make butter. The skimmed milk was sold for table use or to feed the animals. A dam and a pond with an outlet creek were located behind the cremery. A lot of hockey games were played on the pond. The farmers would cut ice from the pond for use in their ice boxes. There was also an ice storage plant on the site. The ice blocks were separated with saw dust to prevent them from sticking together. The pond has been drained, but the creek can still be seen running along side the Rutter’s store. In the 1960’s the former creamery became Wineka Feed Service. Later the property was sold to David Laird which he used for a antique store.

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The Otterbein Cemetery is located on E. Canal St., past the Y in the road and behind a house on the left hand side of the street. The cemetery contains some Rauhausers and Frysingers headstones.