Monday, March 4, 2024

Looking Back: Russell Freidell Captured Dorchester Images More Than A Century Ago



Every now and again, we come across old photos of the Dorchester area that will take all of our readers back to a time that no one alive today can remember. But we can all imagine what it was like thanks to the imagery.

Today we wanted to share a few such photos taken by Dorchester's early photographer Russell Freidell.

Russell Freidell was the son of William Freidell, the well-known dry goods store owner and retailer who ran his business in Dorchester for more than 50 years. The Freidells resided in a beautiful Victorian home on the corner of Washington Avenue and 10th St. (The home was renovated in the late 1990s and today it looks nothing as it once did.)

The Freidell's dry goods business also managed to survive a 1896 fire that destroyed a portion of Dorchester's business district, when the buildings were mostly wood.

In 1890, William Freidell was a key decision-maker in the construction of the community's first dedicated high school, which cost of $10,000. That same year, Russell was born.

Seventeen years later, Russell was a proud 1907 graduate of Dorchester High School. In addition to his Sunday School service and work with the Masons, he would also go on to become known for his photography.

Russell was drafted during World War I, and he was around Dorchester as late as the 1940s. He lived to age 97 and was buried in Houston, Texas in 1987.

Nearly 117 years after his high school graduation, we're still talking about Russell's photos. 

All of his images are worth a long look, whether it was the 1908 photo that Freidell took of the Big Blue River north of town or images of an area country road -- with no road signs and certainly no wider than the width of a Model T or a horse-drawn carriage. (Click on any photo here for a better view.)

One of our favorite Freidell photos shows Dorchester's Independence Day in 1908 (pictured atop this story). It gives viewers a front row seat at the village's celebrated Fourth of July parade, which continues to this day. The theme of Dorchester's 1908 Fourth of July Parade was "Comic Parade."

Another favorite photograph by Freidell illustrates a clear, crisp view of the 1909 Dorchester baseball team. Back then, games were often played south of town in the space now occupied by the Saline County Museum, or in a cow pasture northwest of town called Grant Horner's pasture. Yet another location was Bankson's pasture, just on the outskirts of Dorchester. Most games were played during free time on Sundays, according to old-timers quoted in the Dorchester Centennial history book.


Freidell's postcards are occasionally available for purchase online and make a fine gift for any Dorchester native or resident who enjoys studying our area's history.


14 comments:

  1. I also notice that there's no 20-foot banks on the river as there are today thanks to the practice of farming right up to the edges of bodies of water.

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    1. Maby its because there used to be dams on the river

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    2. Yea you idiot

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    3. Bring back the dams and use them to generate electricity in this age of carbon phobes

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  2. Love love love when you guys do these types of stories

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  3. Whatever happenend to Russell Friedell? I assume his dad died in Dorchester.

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  4. The best part about those days is there werent any mexican drug gang members interrupting our blue river cruises.

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  5. hey village dweller. Is friedel on your photo staff for your little blog?

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  6. Maby those banks were caused when they took the dams out? Pretty hard to farm the edge and have a twenty foot drop off occur

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  7. I live Mount Prospect, IL. A few weeks ago I bought (or won) a Russell Freidell postcard of the Gevena Reds Battery (post of baseball players, and since it is a battery, must likely pitchers and catchers) Is or was Geneva Reds team in the area?
    Valerie

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  8. good to see that the old Thompson mansion is still intact and being used as a business............... <3

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  9. I am 81 years old and I remember Russell Freidell very well. When I was a young kid my folks bought a life insurance policy for me from him..He was quite a character..I also remember the Blue when it looked like the picture. We used to take a row boat out on the river. I also remember digging clams out of the sand bottom below the Plouzek dam just north of Dorchester..When those clams got to stink real good, they made great catfish bait....The river was a lot nicer in those days.

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    1. I am 83 years old and I remember Russell. My folks bought a life policy for me as well. It was with New York Life. I also remember digging clams by Plouzek dam for fish bate

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  10. Love this blog. Closset thing to time travel that I will ever see.

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