Dorchester Times: Small Town Tells Its Youth: You're Welcome Back

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Small Town Tells Its Youth: You're Welcome Back

In central Nebraska, the little town of Arcadia is setting a big example for the rest of the state. The Valley County village -- population 359 -- is telling its students: You're always welcome back in your hometown.

The Grand Island Independent recently ran a feature on a program organized by Arcadia Public Schools and Valley County Economic Development to make area students aware of opportunities for entrepreneurship in their own backyard.

The Independent reports: "'You're not going to appreciate what you have in these small communities until you get out into the world,' said Mindy Dorsey, an Ord optometrist and Arcadia graduate. '(But) we'd love to have you back, and I think there's plenty of opportunities and things that you can make happen around here.'

After growing up in a small town, many high school students can't wait to get out, said Mindy Conner, Arcadia's guidance counselor. The message verbalized by several speakers and tour hosts acknowledged that desire, encouraging students to go out and see the rest of the world. But rural towns need all the business start-ups they can get, and students often don't realize that they can do many of the jobs they want to do in their hometown, Conner said.

'Doing something like this makes them realize that there are opportunities around here,' said Jodi Sell, Arcadia's technology coordinator. Students heard about all kinds of journeys from four people -- from Dorsey, who moved back to open her own practice in Valley County after four years in Indiana and another four in New Hampshire, to Jim Trotter of Arcadia, who turned a rundown gas station into a slew of businesses operating in nearly two dozen Central Nebraska communities. They also got some hands-on experience by touring three Arcadia businesses to get a picture of how a successful business is run in a town of 350. At Linda Cruikshank's Progressive Farm Marketing office, students got a primer on commodities trading.

Between tours, several Arcadia seniors said their classmates are divided on whether they want to return to the area after college, but expressed appreciation of small-town life. 'I don't think I could live in the city for too long," many of the students said. The seniors found trading exercise particularly intriguing, saying it brought up new possibilities of making a living in a rural area.

We at the Times believe the time is right for Dorchester Public Schools to partner with community organizations, such as DACA or the Dorchester Future Business Leaders of America, to create a similar program. Dorchester should not wait another day to tells its youth that they are always welcome to return to their hometown.

Moreover, Dorchester's leaders and its young people should not waste another minute in exploring together the ways to make returning to Dorchester a more viable option.

1 comment:

AnonymousOctober 2, 2007 at 8:22 PM
This is a nice article. There are actually more employment possibilities for people returning to small communities than in previous years, thanks in large part to internet selling. No longer is a specialty business in a small community solely dependent on the local population base - which in most cases is too small to provide the needed patronage for financial success. The low cost of retail space in small communities is also helpful for individuals wishing a "real" store front. Nice article.
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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."