Town file
Dover, Delaware
Dover, Delaware (Kent County, Delaware) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 263, "Butcher Saws & Wine Coolers" (17 February 2022).
- Town
- Dover
- County
- Kent County
- State
- Delaware
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 263
- Approximate location
- 39.161, -75.522
Episode 263 / 17 February 2022 / 167 min / full
Butcher Saws & Wine Coolers
"James says, "We're going all the way somewhere, not very unhawaii-like place. Dover, Delaware," and later, "This is in Kent County"." about 0:05:27
The case: Murder of William Shipley (July 1984). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2022
- Population
- 38,199
- Median age
- 29.9
- Median household income
- $49,738
- Median home value
- $223,800
- Two-bedroom rent
- $1,200
- Cost of living
- 93.6
- Religious
- 33.6%
- Property crime
- ▲ almost double
- Violent crime
- ▲ about one third higher
History, in brief
- The capital of Delaware was moved from New Castle to Dover in 1777 because of its central location and relative safety from British raiders on the Delaware River. about 0:06:25
- Dover was a stop on the Underground Railroad, because Maryland had slaves next door while Pennsylvania and New Jersey were free states. about 0:06:57
- Dover was home to a large Quaker community that was active in emancipation. about 0:07:15
- There is an Amish community west of Dover of about 1,600 people, first settled in 1915; it almost died out in the twenties and thirties and rebounded in the sixties. about 0:07:38
- The Amish community settled in 1915 and the settlement rebounded in the 1960s. about 0:07:48
- Dover is home to several Amish businesses selling furniture, quilts and food. about 0:08:39
- Dover is the capital of Delaware and one of the smallest state capitals in the nation. about 0:04:52
The reviews read out
5 stars
"A great place to live, but the jobs are few, the jobs pay little and the schools are not the greatest, with disciplinary problems pushing the reviewer's heart away."about 0:09:55
5 stars
"One sentence: including the distance, in America, it is good."about 0:10:55
3 stars
"The sense of community is like no other and everyone knows everyone, but there is little to do, the nearest beach is an hour away, most stores do not sell alcohol and the reviewer lives on Dover Air Force Base."about 0:11:31
2 stars
"A bad area with bad people, unclean and depressing, with fire trucks and police cars every night and druggies around."about 0:13:07
1 star
"Complaint about congested roads, changing traffic signals, crime near the police station and courthouse, and someone banging on the reviewer's car hood."about 0:13:35
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Cheswold, Delaware5.4 miles
- Kenton, Delaware8.9 miles
- Marydel, Maryland13 miles
- Harrington, Delaware17 miles
- Houston, Delaware17 miles
- Port Penn, Delaware25 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.