The “Fortress of Finance” building at the corner of 83 Washington and Central Ave in Dover, New Hampshire is the last building of many that remains with the name “Strafford County Bank” in large bold letters chiseled out of the Milford pink granite it is made of. The corporation was the first bank in Dover, New Hampshire, granted by legislature on June 10th, 1803 in the name “New-Hampshire Strafford Bank”.

The four story building built in 1895 was designed by A.T. Ramsdell of Dover, NH. It took the place of the “Old Corner” building in Central Square, often referred to as Lower Square. It was once a place of business for the bank, City Hall, the newspapers, and many merchants’ just footsteps from the mill gates. The Strafford Bank building was converted into office space when the bank moved across the street to first occupy 353 Central Ave in 1963, currently the offices of TD Banknorth. It later had a branch office built in the current Shaw’s Supermarket center on the North end of Dover in 1976. That building is now occupied by Laconia Savings Bank.