Dover Area Historical Society

The Dover Civic Creed*

I believe in Dover and its possibilities; and I shall do my part to make it a better place in which to live.
I believe in good government for Dover, and I shall assume my share of the Civic responsibility that rests on the shoulders of all our citizens.
I believe in supporting local enterprises that make for Community development; and shall contribute my moral support and energy to any worthy cause Championed by them.
I believe in partronizing home merchants, for they are greatly responsible for our having good schools and churches, better roads and promotion of the general welfare of this community.
I believe in making Dover clean and attractive, for a healthy atmosphere is an inducement to honest and right-thinking citizens.
I believe in boosting my home town at every possible opportunity; that thinking, talking and acting progress is the quickest and surest way to bring permanent prosperity to Dover - the Best Town in America - because it is MY HOME TOWN.

* Sponsored by a group of local businessmen January 3, 1927.

The History Of Dover

When John Jackson of Flushing, New York took title to a tract of 527 acres on May 31, 1722, Dover was born. He built a log cabin at the site of today's Hurd Park and set up a forge, the first in Randolph Twp. and the second in New Jersey. The ore came from the Dickerson Mine, the oldest mine in the United States.

With the rapid growth of manufactured iron products, the British felt their business was in jeopardy. In 1750, by an act of the British Parliament, all raw pig iron and bar iron was to be shipped to England with the manufactured products sold back to the colonies. By 1753, John Jackson was out of business and his business sold at a Sheriff's sale to Edward Fitz-Randolph, the founder of Randolph Twp.

In 1792, Moses Hurd had arrived from Dover, New Hampshire to work at the forge and gave Dover is current name. Prior to that, Dover was called Old Tye and Beamans. Josiah Beaman aquired the forge and later sold it to Isreal Canfield and Jacob Losey, who enlarged the works to include the site that would become the Ulster Iron Works. Canfield and Losey failed the business following the War of 1812 and Joseph Blackwell and Henry McFarlan took it over to pay a debt in 1816. These two New York merchants enlarged the forge to include a iron rolling mill in 1822, reviving the stalled enterprise.

Dover was incorporated as a village in 1826 and almost immediately Blackwell and McFarlan started selling off property lots after laying out the city street grid. The two main streets were named after them and the perpendicular streets named after the counties of the state.

Dover's forge contributed greatly to the tools and machines that were needed to construct the Morris Canal in 1830.

For the next decade Dover rapidly grew and by the mid 1840s the railroad conducted a survey of Dover and wrote the following: "Dover at a glance is very picturesque. It is surrounded by rolling hills and with so many machine shops and foundries, iron is not far off. The Morris Canal crosses the river here and adds to the busy appearance of the town. The main part of Dover is compactly built and Blackwell Street has a thriving business appearance which any large city might be proud of.

In 1848, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad made Dover a destination point by laying track into the city. Dover soon became a major commercial center with products and produce being shipped to the New York marketplace.

In 1869, under the leadership of entrepreneur George Richards, Dover became independent of Randolph Twp. by becoming a chartered town by an act of the New Jersey State Legislature.

Today, Dover is a thriving 2.5 square mile community in the heart of Morris County that boasts of a wonderful past, a working present and a bright future. Visit the Dover History Museum at 55 W. Blackwell Street in the heart of the natioanally registered Historic Blackwell Street District. Call 973-361-3525 to arrange a tour.

The Historic Timeline

1722 - Dover settled by John Jackson of Flushing, N.Y. who established a Forge.
1750 - General William Winds purchases 275 acres at today's Salem Village area.
1753 - Moses Hurd came from Dover, N.H. to manage Jackson's Forge.
1758 - Village adopts the name "Old Tye" after Gen. Wind's Ft. Ticonderoga victory.
1798 - First General Store opened along what is today Clinton Street.
1799 - Village begins to adopt the name "Dover" in reference to the Hurd Estate.
1813 - First physician, Dr. Ira Crittendon, moves in near Gen. Winds estate.
1817 - Joseph Blackwell & Henry McFarlan foreclose on the Dover Iron Works.
1820 - First Post Office established in Dover.
1831 - Morris Canal is completed and boat traffic begins through Dover.
1848 - Railroad finally arrives in Dover connecting to points east only.
1850 - First Opera House established in Dover on Sussex St. (Moller Opera House.
1869 - Dover Incorporated as a town, breaks away from Randolph Twp.
1869 - First newspaper, Dover Enterprise established, followed by Iron Era, Dover Index.
1874 - Dover Fire Deptartment Established
1880 - Second Opera House established by Wm Baker as a vaudeville playhouse.
1889 - First electric lights turn on in Dover.
1897 - German immigrant Paul Guenther establishes world leading silk stocking factory.
1900 - Dover becomes a major business center for western Morris County.
1904 - New Jersey's first trolley car service established in Dover.
1906 - First major vaudeville theater established by Wm Baker called the Baker Theatre.
1910 - First automobiles begin to arrive in Dover.
1911 - John Hurd donates Hurd Park to the citizens of Dover so the Hurd name lives forever.
1913 - Playhouse Theater, another major vaudeville theater opens on Morris Street.
1916 - Dover General Hospital is established on Ann Street.
1922 - Dough Boy Statue erected at Hurd Park.
1933 - Auto racing began at the Dover Speedway.
1934 - Dover Little Theater is established.
1950 - Dover Iron plant is closed, longest continuous buiness 1745-1950, in Dover history.
1956 - Dover Shopping Center, the first "in-town" shopping center in America, opens.
1957 - Dover Drive-In Theater opens becoming the first wireless speaker system in America.
1970 - Begins the decline in Dover because of nearby Shopping Malls construction: Playhouse Theater torn down, old Woolworth's Dept. store torn down, Dutton Hotel closes, National Union Bank merges with bank from Rutherford, Baker Theater closes, Dover Shopping Center loses major retail businesses to the Rockaway Townsquare Mall.
1989 - The Daily Advance ceased publications.

History Of Dover's Diversity

Dover has a very long history of diversity from its founding in 1722 to the present day. Early settlers to Dover were predominantly white, Anglo-Saxon and of western European stock. First to settle in Dover were the Dutch, Swedes and the Finns, followed by the English and Scotch. Then came the Irish to seek their fortunes in the iron industry, railroads and were among the first to be hired to dig the Morris Canal.

Later immigration in the 1880s and 1890s consisted of the Italians, Poles, Hungarians, Slavs, Russians and Greeks finding employment in the mines around Dover. There were violent prejudices and bitter feelings against some immigrants, especially the Irish and Germans. By the 1850s, such movements like "The American" developed with their cy, "America for Americans." This type of nationalistic bias faded with the advent of the Civil War, when the Germans contributed 7300 men and the Irish, 8800 men to the New Jersey Regiments.

The wave of German immigrants swept over the United States in the mid-1800s to early 1900s and brought their much-needed skills during the great industrial expansion. The need for experienced knitters in the blossoming silk industry in Dover attracted many from the mills of Saxony.

Italians were also attracted to Dover which was the terminal for the DL&W Railroad where many worked on the repair gangs. The first Greeks to come to Dover arrived around 1909. They were attracted by employment in the Ulster Iron Works, the Rich-Boynton Stove Works and the Hercules Powder Company in nearby Kenvil.

Because of the labor shortages in the area's industry and nearby farming in Sussex and Warren Counties during World War II, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began bringing small groups of Spanish-speaking American citizens from Puerto Rico. These laborers were attracted to the iron mines and other industries needing relatively unskilled workers. Ninety percert of Dover's early Puerto Ricans came from Aguada, at the western end of the island on Aguada Bay. Farmers from the Great Meadows brought them into Dover on week-ends. They liked Dover and began bringing their family and friends.

The History Of Dover's Love Apples

With such a long history, Dover can boost of many "firsts." Such as the first Bank Combination Lock ever invented was in Dover in 1840 by Joshua Butterworth or the first Swedish Luthern congregation established in New Jersey in 1872 was in Dover. How about the first ladies silk hosiery stocking manufactured in Dover at Paul Guenther's mills on King Street or perhaps the first canal boat ever built and the first to sail on the Morris Canal came from Dover. And of course, the first "in-town" shopping center and drive-in movie theater ever constructed in America was in Dover. Now comes the claim that the first "love apples" to be cultivated in New Jersey came from Dover.

Recorded history shows "love apples" were being grown in South Jersey as early as 1829 and then by 1830 abundantly grown along the Delaware River Valley. Known to be poisonous, occasionally word spread that they were being eaten by French and Spanish families.

In Dover's recorded history by Charles Platt (Dover History - 1914) on page 465, early Dover settler, Mrs. E. W. Livermore writes the following account: "Jacob Losey, born in 1767 and died in 1858, along with Isreal Canfield erected the rolling mill in 1792 at Dover. Also, at the rolling mill was a dwelling house occupied by Mr. Losey. Jacob Losey laid out the grounds in the back of his house in a very attractive manner and took great interest in these gardens. He was the first to cultivate "love apples" in this section. People were afraid to eat them believing they were poisonous. In 1816, Losey & Canfield surrender their mill to New York City investors Joseph Blackwell and Henry McFarlan. Records show that these "love apples" were being cultivated in Dover prior to the established date of 1829 in South Jersey.

As early as 1816, could Dover have been the site of the "first" Jersey tomatoes ever to be cultived in the New Jersey?

Dover's Joseph Kekuku, Inventor Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar

It all began in 1874 about 5400 miles from Dover. Joseph Kekuku was born in a small village of Laie on the windward side of Oahu, Hawaii. When Joseph was 15, he and his cousin, Sam left for a boarding school in Honolulu, about 40 miles south of Laie. In 1889 while attending the Kamahameha School for Boys, Kekuku accidently discovered the pleasing sound of the steel guitar.

According to C.S. DelAno, publisher of the "Hawaiian Music In Los Angeles" whose "Hawaiian Love Song" was the first original composition to be written for the Hawaiian Steel Guitar, "Joseph told me that he was walking along a road in Honolulu 42 years ago, holding an old Spanish guitar when he say a rusty bolt on the ground. As he picked it up, the bolt accidently vibrated one of the strings and produced a new tone that was rather pleasing. After practicing for a time with the metal bolt, Joe experimented with the back of a pocket knife, then with the back of a steel comb and still later on with a highly polished steel (bar) very similar to the sort tht is used today."

In 1904 at the age of 30, Joseph left Hawaii and in his 58-years of life, would never return to his native islands. But he would instead, bring his native islands, through his music, to the rest of the world. He started in the United States by performing in vaudeville theaters from coast to coast. His group was "Kekuku's Hawaiian Quintet" and were sponsored by a management group called "The Affiliated."

In 1919 at the age of 45, Kekuku left the U.S. for an eight year tour of Europe traveling with "The Bird of Paradise" show. During this time, Kekuku played before Kings and Queens in many different countries. "The Bird of Paradise" show had been on Broadway with brilliant Hawaiian scenery, dazzling costumes, plus authentic Hawaiian music. The show traveled in Europe for eight years and was a total sellout and European hearts were captured by the sweet teasing sounds of the steel guitar. NO OTHER INSTRUMENT HISTORY BECAME THE DARLING OF SO MANY COUNTRIES SO QUICKLY. (Lorene Ruymar) "The Bird of Paradise" show was so popular that is became a film in 1932 and again in 1951.

In a more conventional vein, one of the greatest influences in spreading the "gospel" of Hawaiian music and the steel guitar was the very popular radio show called "Hawaii Calls" rated the most popular program in radio history. The broadcasts from Waikiki Beach from 1935 to 1975 were carried by more than 750 radio stations around the world at its peak. "Hawaii Calls" was never broadcast with the sweet sounds of the steel guitar which became the signature sound of Hawaii.

In the 1930s the steel guitar went electric. Electrification attracted other musical forms such as western, big band, jazz and country. The electyrified steel guitar made its greatest breakthrough into country music. Little Roy Wiggins was the first widely known electric steel guitar player to back a major Nashville artist, in his case Eddie Arnold. Another influence was the rise in the use of the pedal steel guitar, where the player could produce a correct change in harmony by pushing a pedal or kneeing a lever.

Kekuku returned to the United States and at the age of 53, settled in Chicago and ran a popular and successful music school. Around 1930 he left Chicago and visited Dover. Some think he came to Dover as part of a traveling musical troupe that appeared at the Baker Theater. Hawaiian groups on these vaudeville tours usually consisted of 5 or 6 musicians with the steel guitarist seated in the center. Why Kekuku settled in Dover no one yet knows. Perhaps he like the rolling hills of Dover and the bustling downtown district in the valley. Perhaps he liked the proximity to the shows at the Baker Theater and the trains that ran to New York City. Perhaps his wife Adeline was tired of traveling and wanted to settle down and this was the long sought after spot. In any event, in 1932 Joseph Kekuku was living in Dover, New Jersey with his wife at 88 Prospect Street and giving Hawaiian guitar lessons. Around town he was ofter referred to as "the Hawaiian." On January 16, 1932 at the age of 58, Joseph Kekuku passed away in Morristown of a brain hemorrage.

His obituary appeared in the Dover Advance on January 18, 1932 and read: "Funeral services will be held tomorrow at 1:00 o'clock for Joseph Kekuku, fifty-eight years old from the home of Mrs. Mary Stone on Prospect Street. Rev. Hedding B. Leach will officiate and interment will be in the Orchard Street Cemetery. Mr. Kekuku is survived by his wife. He died after a lingering illness at Morristown on Saturday. Mr. Kekuku, an Hawaiian, resided with Mrs. Stone last summer and gave lessons on the steel guitar which he claimed to have originated."

A small marker at the Orchard Street Cemetery reads: JOSEPH KEKUKU JAN. 16, 1932 marking his final resting place.

In 1993, Joseph Kekuku was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame with full honors as the inventor of the Hawaiian Steel Guitar.

The Dover Area Historical Society salutes this genius musician, this artist, this teacher, this ambassador of Hawaii and the Aloha spirit around the world. His passion brought him far from his birthplace of Laie, Hawaii to his final resting place in Dover, New Jersey.

The story of Joseph Kekuku and his Hawaiian Steel Guitar is now part of Dover's long, rich history. We have the responsibility to "remember." Sincerely, Joan Bocchino.

Revoluntionary War Hero - General William Winds

American Revoluntionary War Hero General William Winds (pronounced Wines) was born in Southold Long Island in 1727 and purchased 275-acres of land in 1750 from William Penn in what is today the Salem Village-Victory Gardens section of Dover.

General Winds had passed through the ranks of the military as Captain, Major, Colonal and finally General. In 1758, he received a Royal commission from England to serve as Captain of the New Jersey Company.

Under General Abercrombie, General Winds led an attack on Fort Ticonderoga during the French and Indian War. It was in this battle that General Winds took several French prisoners, some of which followed him back to New Jersey. From this, General Winds got the nickname of "Old Tye" which soon became the name of Dover until 1796. General Winds was soon named the Justice of the Peace in Morris County.

In 1765, the King of England issued the offensive "Stamp Act" on the colonies. By this time General Winds had already had enough of the British rule. Even though Morristown was a strong pro-British enclave, the General could sense an atmosphere of revolution throughout the Morris County countryside. Here General Winds defied the Stamp Act and the King of England by using birch-bark on all his legal writings and documents in order to avoid paying the tax.

General Winds received the commission of Lieutenant-Colonel from the Continental Congress and was stationed at Perth Amboy.

It was General Winds who placed Governor Franklin under arrest in 1777, the last royal governor of New Jersey.

Governor Winds actions during the fight for independance was controversial but he remained a close friend to George Washington until he passed away in 1799.

Today, General Winds is buried alongside his wife at the Rockaway cemetery behind the Presbyterian Church. His tombstone is showing signs of wear and fading away due to the elements of the weather. The Dover Area Historical Society has expressed concerns over its preservation.