Dorchester Times: Historic Dorchester Home For Sale

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Historic Dorchester Home For Sale

One of Dorchester's most historic -- and largest -- homes is for sale.

The 3,000 sq. ft. home, built in 1901 by Dorchester pioneer Colonel W.J. Thompson, sits on the corner of 10th and Lincoln Ave. and is an intriguing piece of Nebraska's past. It was also the site of Dorchester's famous Elmwood Pony Farm.

According to sources, the home is being offered by Turkey Creek Realty and lists for what seems to be a very reasonable $125,000. A recent news story noted that restored historic homes have fetched more than $10 million in Lincoln.

In 2007, the Times named the structure one of our "favorite old homes" in Dorchester, calling it "a diamond in the rough" with the potential to "be a crown jewel for the entire region."

The realtor's description of the property reads: "This historic Victorian Mansion was the home of Colonel W.J. Thompson, who operated the Elmwood Pony Farm. He raised Shetland Ponies and each year herded them overland to the Nebraska State Fair and offered rides to fair-goers as well as competing in various competitions with his ponies. Colonel Thompson's son, Wallace, started the Thompson Rodeo."

To see the online advertisement for the home, click here. (UPDATE 6/25: A friend of the Times tells us that tax incentives may be available for the purchase of historic homes. Contact the Nebraska Department of Economic Development and Kathy McKillip at 402-471-1558 or kathy.mckillip@nebraska.gov for more information.)

For our readers who may be unfamiliar, the Elmwood Pony Farm sat on present day 10th Street, between Lincoln and Fulton Av

enues. Dating back to the 1890s, it was one of the largest pony farms west of the Mississippi River, according to the 1981 Dorchester Centennial history book. By the 1920s, the pony farm was home to more than 300 ponies.

Thompson's pony farm was a popular destination for children from miles around, according to accounts of longtime residents. Children who lived in the country were even permitted to take home a pony and ride it all summer, if they agreed to keep it fed well.

Each September, Colonel Thompson took as many as 35 Shetland ponies to the Nebraska State Fair for rides. He entered many more of the animals in the fair's show contests. All of the ponies were herded overland from Dorchester to Lincoln by Thompson farm employees.

In 1930, Colonel Thompson's son, Wallace, started the Thompson rodeo. It was usually a three-day event h

eld each fall, complete with fighting broncos, cowboys, clowns, trick riders, cowgirls, bull doggers, concessions, rides, dancing and "whoopee."

The Dorchester rodeo attracted many top riders from around the country, as well as local talent. At one time, more than 7,000 spectators were reported in attendance

We are hopeful that the Colonel's home goes to a worthy owner who has the resources to make the residence a "crown jewel" of Dorchester, once again.

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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."