The building housing Dover Auto Body has operated as a repair shop for over 100 years and was the first auto repair shop in its area, but the streak ended July 27 when the Dover, NH, business closed its doors for good.

Bob Strong, who owned the shop for 11 years, told Foster’s Daily Democrat that the decision to close was difficult.

"It’s not the way I thought I would end my career, but the perfect storm of everything that could go wrong, did," he said.

The historic shop got its start in the late 1800s as a carriage repair business, then morphed into an auto repair shop in the early 20th century, Strong says.

Strong said the weak economy and reduced pay from insurance companies severely hurt his business.

"Last November, I knew things were on the skids, but I fooled myself into believing winter would come, it being our best season for repair work, and thought I could pull together enough money to get back on track," he said. "But with the weather the way it was, the lack of snowstorms, it just didn’t happen. I held on as long as I could — no one likes to call it quits."

Strong, who is the fourth owner of the shop, has worked at the business for 20 years and is proud of its long history.

"It’s really too bad," he said. "This place is a piece of history that is now gone."

To read the entire article, visit the Foster’s Daily Democrat website at http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100809/GJNEWS_01/708099970&template=DoverRegion.