Dover, Arkansas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dover is a city in Pope County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 1,329 at the 2000 census.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 The Dover massacre
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Dover is located at 35°24′2″N, 93°6′45″W (35.400597, -93.112534)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.7 km² (1.8 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,329 people, 529 households, and 372 families residing in the city. The population density was 283.5/km² (732.7/mi²). There were 579 housing units at an average density of 123.5/km² (319.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.37% White, 0.23% Black or African American, 0.68% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.60% from other races, and 0.98% from two or more races. 1.96% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 529 households out of which 37.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.6% were married couples living together, 16.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.5% were non-families. 26.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.3% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 79.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $27,697, and the median income for a family was $33,879. Males had a median income of $25,625 versus $19,073 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,261. About 10.6% of families and 14.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.9% of those under age 18 and 14.0% of those age 65 or over.

The official mascot of the Dover school system is the Pirate.

[edit] The Dover massacre

On December 22, 1987, Ronald Gene Simmons, of Dover, killed all fourteen members of his family during a Christmas reunion in Dover. Two days later, he walked into downtown Russellville and started shooting at people, killing two and wounding another two. It is assumed that Simmons was attempting to "go after" the people who had mistreating him seeing as how he went after previous employers and co-workers, not just random people. Simmons was arrested without resistance and was sentenced to death on December 10, 1989, and was executed on June 25, 1990, the quickest sentence-to-execution time in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.