Dorchester Times: Dorchester's July 4 Celebration: Today and 99 Years Ago

Monday, July 2, 2007

Dorchester's July 4 Celebration: Today and 99 Years Ago

Today we look back at Dorchester’s 1908 Fourth of July celebration, as we prepare for this year’s Independence Day festivities.

A recent Ebay search uncovered these interesting photos of Dorchester's July 4 events from nearly a century ago. The first photo (above left) depicts the Fourth of July G.A.R. parade, as participants appear to be entering the southern edge of Dorchester on what is most likely Washington Street (Main Street). G.A.R., or the Grand Army of the Republic, was a fraternal organization composed of Union Army veterans who had served in the Civil War. This photo was taken 43 years after the War Between the States had come to an end.

The other photo shows an Independence Day gathering at the old Dorchester fairgrounds. If our Dorchester history is correct, the old fairgrounds were located south of town, near what is today’s Saline County Museum. (Local historians: Please correct us if we are wrong.) The photo was taken by Russell Freidell of Dorchester.

Looking ahead to this year’s celebration, we are told that the Saline County Museum will be open Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All 11 museum buildings will be open -- and free to the public –- including the old Buckingham School House, log cabin, Dorchester Depot, chapel, farm machinery building, and Henry Burden home. The museum’s main building includes a display of historic American flags. In the chapel is a display of bygone wedding dresses. Museum representatives tell us that many displays have been improved in the last year.

Here is a reminder of the event schedule for the 2007 Dorchester July 4 celebration:

2007 Dorchester Fourth of July Celebration

7:30 a.m. .................................... Two-Mile Fun Walk (starts on Main Street)
8 a.m. ......................................... Breakfast (West Side Saloon)
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. ......................... Saline Co. Museum (Free to the public)
10 a.m. ....................................... Show & Shine (Main Street). Tractors & vehicles welcome.

11 a.m. - 7 p.m. ........................... Sons of the American Legion BBQ (Legion Hall)
1 p.m.-4 p.m. .............................. Book Swap (Community Building)
2 p.m.-4 p.m. .............................. Bingo (Community Building)
2 p.m.-4 p.m. .............................. Bounce House for the Kids (City Park)

3 p.m. ......................................... Kiddy Tractor Pull (City Park)
3 p.m.-7 p.m. ............................. Girl Scouts Craft Booth (City Park)
4 p.m. ......................................... Taekwondo Demo (City Park)
5 p.m.-7 p.m. .............................. Mr. Jones Train Rides (Main Street)
5 p.m.-7 p.m. .............................. Music by Shawn Cole, One Man Band (City Park)
5:30 p.m.-7 p.m. ......................... Jr. Auxiliary Ice Cream Social (City Park)

7:30 p.m. .................................... Parade (Main Street)
9:30 p.m. .................................... Taekwondo (Football Field)
At Dark ...................................... Fireworks (Football Field) ** Rain-Out Date: 7/7 **

6 comments:

AnonymousJuly 3, 2007 at 8:47 AM
Thanks to whoever is responsible for opening the museum. It is an inexpensive and educational way to enjoy the holiday for our family.
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AnonymousJuly 3, 2007 at 10:50 AM
Remember that July 4 isn't only America's birthday, it's Dorchester's as well.
An online account of Dorchester history says that by July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester. A well was dug and lots went on sale ... and Dorchester was essentially born, although about 10 years before its official incorporation. To read more, go to http://www.casde.unl.edu/history/counties/saline/dorchester/
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Rockin Chair PapaJuly 3, 2007 at 8:10 PM
This little town of ours sure pulls together for this 4th of July celebration. I've heard several people over the years prefer Dorchester's fireworks to the fireworks at Crete or Friend.

Lots of people spend a ton of time organizing - and it has paid off. It's a good time. See you there!
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AnonymousJuly 4, 2007 at 10:53 PM
A job well done on the fireworks Dorchester!! Very fabulous show!!
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AnonymousJuly 5, 2007 at 7:14 AM
Wow, what a fantastic fireworks display last night. Dorchester citizens should be proud. Thank you to all involved -- it was awesome.
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AnonymousJuly 5, 2007 at 8:11 AM
I think the train ride for the kids was the most popular event of the 4th. The kids loved it.
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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."