Dorchester Times: What Could Have Been: In 2014, Hopes Were High For New Cafe

Thursday, July 1, 2021

What Could Have Been: In 2014, Hopes Were High For New Cafe

In July of 2014, there was a buzz spreading through Dorchester. (We take some of the blame for getting hopes up.)

Here's what the Times reported seven years ago:

It's some of the most exciting news we have heard in some time regarding Dorchester's business district.

According to several well-placed sources, a new cafe will soon make its way to the west side of Dorchester's main street.

The cafe will occupy the building that was most recently the Dorchester Hardware Store and the additional space in Dorchester Grocery. Older residents will remember the site as the former location of the West Side Cafe and Rec Room.

There's no word yet on when the cafe will open, but we are told the owners are individuals with strong Dorchester ties.

Operating a restaurant or cafe in a small community isn't easy, and Dorchester's newest entrepreneurs have a heavy task ahead of them. We can all recall the short-lived restaurants, ice cream shops, and cafes that have been here in the past. To be successful, this endeavor will need a unique spin on its operations, good marketing, as well as strong support by the community and area residents.

Community members we spoke with are elated by the news and anxious to see the cafe open. In a 2010 Times survey, readers said that a "cafe with a bakery" was one of the most needed businesses in Dorchester. In fact, a cafe commanded the second highest number of votes, behind only a convenience store.

We were not completely off base in our reporting. Former Dorchester resident Michelle Johnson had strong intentions of opening a Dorchester bakery and cafe, and by 2015, she was on her way, as we reported here.

By July 2015, Johnson and her husband, Brad, were busy with renovation and she was advertising her new business -- called The Party Room -- which was to be located on the west side of main street, next to the U.S. Post Office.

Unfortunately, Johnson ultimately decided it was cost prohibitive to restore the 1870s building -- and her dream of a main street business in Dorchester was never realized.

Today, in 2021, there are reports that renovation of the building continues by its new owners, a Hispanic family with Crete ties.

We cannot confirm what work has been done or what is planned for the structure. Any insider information may be emailed to the Times (dorchester.times@gmail.com) or left in the comments section below.

3 comments:

AnonymousJuly 20, 2014 at 12:05 PM
Hi, bloggers.

Thanks for this news and keeping us informed on town developments. These are the type of stories I want to read.
ReplyDelete
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AnonymousJuly 21, 2014 at 6:42 AM
Wonderfull news. Hope they will consider a small area to sell milk, bread , etc
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AnonymousJuly 21, 2014 at 9:18 AM
I'd be there every morning!!!

- Old Bohunk
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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."