Dover, AR

Dover sits in the Arkansas River Valley at the edge of Pope County's transition from flat river plain to the forested Boston Mountains. The town was incorporated in 1870 and served as the county seat from 1841 until Russellville won the seat in 1887. The railroad bypassed Dover in 1872, a turn that shifted commerce toward Russellville, but the old courthouse-square story is still part of the town's identity. The name itself has two local versions, one crediting Joseph Brearley and Dover, Delaware or England, the other Stephen Rye and Dover, Tennessee. Dover also carries the difficult history of the Pope County Militia War and later racial exclusion after Reconstruction. Dover School District serves local students.