Dover Village

By 1900, Dover Township had a permanent population of 2,233 and an annual influx of people who owned cottages on Lake Erie. These summer residents decided they wanted their own community, and, in a bitter fight, they broke away from Dover Township to form the community of Bay Village, taking the railroad with them. In 1908, residents of the southern part of Dover Township also seceded and became part of North Olmsted. Because township residents were concerned that a township form of government was inherently unstable, the remaining 15.9 square mile area was incorporated as Dover Village in 1911.

Growth of the Village

For the next 3 decades, Dover Village grew, with truck and fruit farming as the backbone of the rural village. During this time, the Clague family donated their home and land to the village for civic use and recreation, and Hilliard Boulevard was cut through farmland. Both projects were aided by laborers from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a program launched during the Great Depression that provided work for the unemployed.