Editing Dover, New Hampshire (section)

===Settlement===
[[File:Settlement of Dover, NH 1623.jpg|thumb|left|Settlement of Dover in 1623]]
The first known [[Europe]]an to explore the region was [[Martin Pring]] from [[Bristol]], [[England]], in 1603.

In 1623, brothers William and Edward Hilton settled at Pomeroy Cove on Dover Point, near the confluence of the [[Bellamy River|Bellamy]] and [[Piscataqua River|Piscataqua]] rivers. This first settlement makes Dover the oldest permanent settlement in [[New Hampshire]], and seventh in the United States.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Stackpole | first = Everett Schermerhorn | title = History of New Hampshire | publisher = The American Historical Society | year = 1916 | location = New York | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kRn4cDDOKKMC | isbn = 978-1-115-84294-5 }}</ref>

The Hiltons were [[fishmonger]]s sent from [[London]] by the [[Council for New England]]'s Laconia Company to establish a colony and fishery on the Piscataqua. In 1631, however, the colony contained only three houses. William Hilton built a salt works on the property (salt-making was the principal industry in his hometown of [[Northwich]], England). He also served as Deputy to the General Court (the colonial legislature).<ref>Palmer, Ansell W., ed. ''Piscataqua Pioneers: Selected Biographies of Early Settlers in Northern New England,'' pp. 14, 17, 18, 29, 33, 63, 232–233, Piscataqua Pioneers, Portsmouth, NH, 2000. {{ISBN|0-9676579-0-3}}.</ref><ref>Anderson, R. C. ''The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633,'' pp. 951–957, vol. 2, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, Boston, 1995.</ref><ref>Scales, J. ''History of Dover, New Hampshire,'' pp. 311–313, facsimile of the 1923 edition, Heritage Books, 1989.</ref> The Hiltons' name survives at Hilton Park on Dover Point (originally known as Hilton Point).

The colony's original townships included [[Durham, New Hampshire|Durham]], [[Madbury, New Hampshire|Madbury]], [[Newington, New Hampshire|Newington]], [[Lee, New Hampshire|Lee]], [[Somersworth, New Hampshire|Somersworth]] and [[Rollinsford, New Hampshire|Rollinsford]].

In 1633, the plantation was bought by a group of English [[Puritans]] who planned to settle in [[New England]], including [[William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele|Viscount Saye and Sele]], [[Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke|Baron Brooke]] and [[John Pym]]. They promoted colonization in America, and so that year Hilton's Point received numerous immigrants, many from [[Bristol]]. They renamed the settlement Bristol. Atop the nearby hill they built a [[meetinghouse]] surrounded by an [[Trench warfare|entrenchment]], with a jail nearby.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books/about/The_History_of_New_Hampshire.html?id=uD8OAAAAIAAJ Jeremy Belknap, ''The History of New Hampshire'', 1812]</ref>

The town was called Dover in 1637 by the new governor, Reverend [[George Burdett (governor)|George Burdett]]. It was possibly named after [[Robert Dover (Cotswold Games)|Robert Dover]], an English lawyer who resisted Puritanism.<ref>{{Harvnb|Haddon|2004|pp=64–65}}</ref> With the 1639 arrival of [[Thomas Larkham]], however, it was renamed after [[Northam, Devon|Northam]] in [[Devon]], where he had been preacher. But Lord Saye and Sele's group lost interest in their settlements, both here and at [[Saybrook, Connecticut]], when their plan to establish a hereditary [[aristocracy]] in the colonies met disfavor in [[New England]]. Consequently, the plantation was sold in 1641 to [[Massachusetts]] and again named Dover.

Because it was an early settlement in Abenaki lands, settlers built fortified [[log house]]s called [[garrison (architecture)|garrisons]], inspiring Dover's nickname "The Garrison City." The population and business center shifted from Dover Point to Cochecho Falls on the [[Cochecho River]], where its drop of {{convert|34|ft}} providing [[water power]] for industry (Cochecho means "the rapid foaming water" in the [[Abenaki]] language).<ref>[http://library.dover.nh.gov/DoverHistory/HISTORYIMAGES/cochecho_or_cocheco.htm Dover Public Library, "Is it Spelled Cochecho or Cocheco?"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707000759/http://library.dover.nh.gov/DoverHistory/HISTORYIMAGES/cochecho_or_cocheco.htm |date=2015-07-07 }}</ref> What is now downtown Dover settlers called Cochecho village.