In the heart of Kingfisher County, the small town of Dover welcomes visitors as well as community members to step into the past, enjoy the colorful scenery and create a few memories of their own at the nostalgic display along U.S. Highway 81.

An idea of several community members, Suzan Brawner said the display began in 2018 on the west side of town with a sign recognizing Dover and Red Fork, its former name as a trading station on the Chisholm Trail, and it has steadily grown to include numerous features.

“We wanted people to remember our little town and that it’s more than a wide spot in the road,” Brawner said.

After putting up the ranch style sign, she said, the beautification committee, which includes Brawner and her husband Gary, Mark and Connie Phelan, as well as Lori Fischer and Kenneth Thiems, added planters filled with flowers and just kept adding features.

The display currently includes a vintage farm truck, wooden cross, a variety of stock tank garden planters spilling over with colorful flowers, decorative rocks, antique wagon wheels, a couple of small buildings as well as numerous other vintage items surrounded by a rustic wooden fence.

Much of the display is lighted and seasonal and special holiday decorations are added throughout the year.

The town has an interesting history, Brawner said, and although the display isn’t meant to recreate Red Fork days, it is meant to “capture the mood and feeling of Dover” in a nostalgic way.

Incorporating a sense of humor, longhorns are added to the display in the fall and scattered throughout town “as if they are on the run,” Brawner said.

Another addition the group hopes to complete by September is a small farmhouse with large country porch which will provide a nice backdrop for visitors to take photos and enjoy the display, she added.

The building will also provide storage for the growing cache of seasonal decorations used at the display.

It will be a big project, she said, and the committee welcomes anyone who would like to help.

“We love our little town and the display has definitely been a labor of love,” she said.

What started as an idea to celebrate Dover and its heritage has grown into a site where people not only notice the town, but stop and take photos among the display, Brawner said.

“It makes us happy to see people stopping to take photos,” Brawner added.

“We want people to enjoy it and remember Dover.”

Brawner said donations are welcome and may be mailed to: Dover Beautification Committee, c/o Gary Brawner, 11224 N. 2830 Road, Dover, 73734.