posted on 12/19/2025

The City of Dover was awarded a $12,500 preservation grant from the New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Program (LCHIP) to support a building assessment of the historic Dover Water Works Pumping Station on Lowell Avenue.

Constructed in 1888, the Pumping Station was the city’s first municipal drinking water pumphouse. It was erected on Page’s Field, a site with a natural spring that had belonged to the Dover Landing Aqueduct Company, one of three private water utility companies purchased by the city, authorized by voters in 1887.

The building filtered water received from Willand Pond through a sand filter, and then propelled it to an open reservoir at the top of Garrison Hill via a steam pump powered by coal-fired boilers. Pumping water to the top of Garrison Hill immediately improved Dover’s quality of life by providing water pressure around the city for drinking and fighting fires. The site was deemed eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places based on a 2011 review, which stated the building “is a true and exceptional example of the Queen Anne style, combining a variety of pronounced architectural features representing several styles.”

The LCHIP grant sought by Dover’s Planning and Community Development Department will fund a comprehensive building assessment and structural review to better understand the structure’s condition and the potential feasibility of preserving and readapting the pumping station....more