Dorchester Times: Award Winners For Dorchester's Recent Home Improvements: West Side

Monday, September 11, 2017

Award Winners For Dorchester's Recent Home Improvements: West Side

When it comes to Dorchester's housing stock, sometimes, this blog is rightly criticized for focusing on the negative. As a collective group, the Times staff believes that shining the spotlight on the most critical areas -- especially vacant or neglected properties -- is the most effective way to achieve different results.

However, we also believe it's necessary to point out the positive.

Today, we are giving our "Home Improvement Awards" to three sets of homeowners on Dorchester's west side. (Don't worry, east siders; we will soon do the same for that side of town, too.)

All three of these homes have seen dramatic improvements over the past couple of years or more recently. We think these property owners need to be heralded and celebrated for investing in their homes and their community.

The West Side Home Improve Awards for 2017 go to:

702 Jefferson: This is one of the more impressive home improvements we've seen in some time. The owners took an already solid home and turned it into an eye catcher, while adding a new garage. Kudos to these proud Dorchester residents for owning and renovating a great place!

1103 Franklin: This historic home renovation deserves a standing applause. Formerly the Fermin Rediger home, and located at the northwest corner of W. 11th and Franklin Ave., this remarkable home has been restored to its historic self. A showcase house since it was built at the turn of last century, the house's new owners took on a major restoration by lifting the home and putting in a new foundation. A cleaner appearing yard with underground sprinkler and a new garage sets this home apart. What's old is amazingly new again!

1013 Jefferson: This home was looking rather rough just a few months ago. But new owners have invested in the home and completely turned it around, making a run-down house into a beautiful home and refurbished yard. (We think it's a shame that the negligent property owner to the south of this house doesn't clean the property or sell it -- but we urge village officials and neighbors to continue to pursue a clean-up solution.)

6 comments:

AnonymousSeptember 12, 2017 at 12:28 PM
The neglected house to the south of your 3rd spotlighted property did get some attention over the weekend as a small group of volunteers loaded the old tree, and other rubbish from the pile. They also cut down the seedlings growing in front. A tractor then spread the dirt pile out to give it a slightly better appearance. Thanks to the volunteers!
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AnonymousSeptember 12, 2017 at 2:42 PM
Really wish the paving discussion would start again. Let those who want to pave at least talk about the options without being shouted down by the handful of negative people who aren't putting the long-term needs of the town first.
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AnonymousSeptember 12, 2017 at 6:41 PM
Other towns are writing grants and finding other sources to pave streets. Certainly, Dorchester could be progressive in seeking road improvements.
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AnonymousSeptember 19, 2017 at 11:02 AM
Paving the streets would be a great improvement for this town! However, the infrastructure under the streets(water and sewer mains) need to be updated first. There are lines in use that were placed in the 1930's. The water tower and lagoons were a much needed upgrade to the town's systems, now it is time to finish the job by updating the mains. It would be much more cost effective to replace the lines before the streets are paved.
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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."