Private Thomas Larabee, according to Dover tradition, helped row General George Washington across the Delaware River, at Trenton, New Jersey, on December 26, 1776. His powder horn and numerous artifacts from an archaeological dig on his property in the 1970's are on display at the Sawin Museum.

The Sawin Memorial Building, which houses the Sawin Museum, was a gift of Benjamin Nelson Sawin and his second wife, Sarah Eudora Shumway, whom he married in 1893. Both Benjamin and Eudora were active members of the Dover Historical Society. The Sawin's were not wealthy for Benjamin was a farmer. They were, however, generous with what they had and were concerned about preserving Dover's history. They left the land on which the museum sits and all of their property to the Society for the erection of the Sawin Memorial Building, which was completed in 1906 and dedicated on May 14, 1907.