Dorchester Times: Our Favorite Dorchester Homes

Monday, December 7, 2015

Our Favorite Dorchester Homes

In April 2007, when the Dorchester Times was just getting its legs, we unveiled a list of our favorite Dorchester homes as selected by our staff.

These homes have been the pride of Dorchester for decades.

Since this post was written more than 8 years ago, we want to know if our readers think it still holds.

Do you agree with our selections?

1.) West 11th Street. A classic beauty, with an eye-pleasing yard to match.

2.) South Stephens Street. One of the best maintained homes in town, with a wonderful annual Christmas display.

3.) West 10th Street. This is how a classic home should be restored!

4.) North Colfax Avenue. We particularly like the intricate woodwork of this home.

5. ) West 10th Street. A diamond in the rough. With some work, this could be a crown jewel for the entire region.

7 comments:

AnonymousApril 25, 2007 at 8:46 PM
I would have nominated the large home on Main St. and 11th. Other wise I can't dispute this to much.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousApril 26, 2007 at 2:33 PM
The old blue home on 10th street is indeed a grand home. I hope it will be restored.
ReplyDelete
Replies
JoyceApril 26, 2007 at 5:17 PM
The house on 10th street has fascinated me since I was a kid (which has been a long time). I know it takes time and $$$ to restore and keep up but it is indeed a treasure. Also, enjoy the annual Christmas display provided by the owners of the home on Stephens--their hard work is appreciated by many.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousApril 30, 2007 at 9:54 AM
Can't forget the brick beauty on the corner of 9th and Lincoln. I especially enjoy the renovation of the hollow tree out front.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousMay 2, 2007 at 7:43 PM
I love the old blue home too. I'd love to restore it but it does take a lot of $$$. A little at a time.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousDecember 7, 2015 at 11:05 AM
Dorchester is a great town with so much potential. We need more of our young people to come back and stay since no one will EVER care about a community as much as those who grew up there.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Ds GmaDecember 7, 2015 at 3:43 PM
A very special thanks to the lady who works at the post office. She changes up with the season. Check out the attractive display there now. What a talented person. Thank You !

ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Village Dweller checks all reader comments to determine if they are appropriate for print.

Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."