The old timber town of Dover (pop. 400) lies at the outflow of the Esperance River into the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, opposite Bruny Island. Now an attractive little fishing port, it was originally a convict settlement. The original Commandant's Office still stands. Many old cottages and English trees recall the time in the 19th C when the
processing and exporting of timber was the town's major industry. Its main sources of income nowadays are fishing and fruit growing. There has been a sharp decline in population since the early 1980s, though it seems well suited for tourist development, with excellent facilities for water sports, fishing and bush walking.