Ron Cole Exciting things are happening as Dover is planning on honoring its history by recognizing its forebears: “The Mission of the Dover 400th Committee is to honor our past, celebrate our present and inspire our future through meaningful and creative community engagement.” Dover is known to be the oldest permanent settlement in New Hampshire and the seventh oldest in the United States. On the surface, that is a fact. Tuesday night, while participating in an online webinar sponsored by Dover 400, more than 400 watchers learned that, prior to the arrival of European visitors and settlers, there actually was a civilization of people that had been residing in this this area for about 12,000 years previously.