Dover-Foxcroft was incorporated on March 1, 1922, as a union of the separate of towns of Dover and Foxcroft. Foxcroft was first incorporated on February 29, 1812, while Dover was incorporated on January 19, 1822. Dover and Foxcroft were separated by the Piscataquis River, which now flows through the consolidated towns.
Settled in the early 1800s, mostly by farmers, the two towns soon attracted blacksmiths, harnessmakers, shoemakers, carpenters, masons, and other craftsmen who came to meet the needs of the growing communities. Most of the early settlers farmed to some extent, to meet their own needs, but also for cash crops, primarily grain and cattle. Another important resource to the early settlers was the abundance of timber, particularly in the hills surrounding the Piscataquis River, the river itself providing power to operate sawmills as well as water transport for logging operations.
Foxcroft, in its beginnings, was centered at the intersection of a planned east-west road connecting Guilford and Milo with a north-south road from the river bank to the shores of Sebec Lake, emphasizing agricultural intentions. Dover appears to have been designed to capitalize on the economic benefits of the Piscataquis River, with its chief focus on the southern banks of the Piscataquis River, at the point where the river ran through rapids, and other centers at another rapids site on Black Stream, and a third rapids further down the river, in East Dover.
With its clear business interests, Dover was the logical choice as the shire town of the newly formed Piscataquis County, a designation which further attracted new businesses to that side of the river, making Dover the commercial or industrial center, with Foxcroft becoming more of a bedroom community for workers employed on the Dover side of the river, as well as the home of the farmers who supplied them with food.
The town lies 35 miles north of Bangor on Maine Route 15.