Dorchester Times: Editorial: Dorchester Would Gain As NCIP Community

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Editorial: Dorchester Would Gain As NCIP Community

There is a plethora of opportunities for Nebraska's smaller communities to enhance their future prospects. Some of those opportunities, however, stand out from the rest.

For 45 years, the Nebraska Community Improvement Program (NCIP) has recognized communities for outstanding community, economic and leadership development efforts. The program encourages communities to develop a community planning process then work to implement a plan with a strong reliance on community volu

nteers. Every Nebraska community with a population of 50,000 or less is eligible to participate in NCIP.

As reported earlier by the Times, Dorchester next month will be featured in the Sunday Lincoln Journal Star's Hometown section. This month's featured community, Cook, Neb. (population 330), is a NCIP community. There is no reason Dorchester shouldn't be, as well.

Communities wanting to participate need to submit an Intent to Enter, Community Goals sheet, and Government Resolution by March 31. These documents can be found in the NCIP

Awards Guide, which can be downloaded at http://www.neded.org/. If current or prospective Dorchester leaders want more information, they can contact Lindsay Papenhausen at 402-471-6587 or at lindsay.papenhausen@ded.ne.gov.

Participation in NCIP is one way in which Dorchester residents could show pride in our town and leaders could encourage more volunteerism by gaining recognition for community accomplishments. Without an organized effort, it can be difficult to articulate exactly why a town is a great place to live. Moreover, it can be hard to figure out exactly how to make it better. We hope Dorchester leaders at DACA or the Village Board consider looking into joining the state's Community Improvement Program.

7 comments:

AnonymousMarch 20, 2008 at 5:54 PM
Thanks to Marcia Boden for remembering her hometown of Dorchester, NE.

Nebraska Community Foundation
http://www.nebcommfound.org/Annual
Reports/2005AnnualReport.pdf
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Village DwellerMarch 20, 2008 at 6:11 PM
Anonymous:

Information on the gift donated to Dorchester by Mrs. Boden can be found if you click here.

Thank you for mentioning this generous act.
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AnonymousMarch 20, 2008 at 10:02 PM
Thanks for the follow-up. I believe the honorific is Ms. rather than Mrs.
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Village DwellerMarch 21, 2008 at 10:13 AM
We subscribe to a more traditional style than the Associated Press. So we'll stick with "Mrs."

The power of the editor is nearly almighty.
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AnonymousMarch 21, 2008 at 11:04 AM
I don't mean to be disrespectful, but Marcia is not married.
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Village DwellerMarch 21, 2008 at 11:14 AM
In that case, we stand corrected and admit our mistake.

There's no disrespect in accuracy. Thank you.
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AnonymousMarch 31, 2008 at 1:09 PM
Mrs. Rockefeller:

It sounds as if Dorchester could use this money immediately.(Streets, ballfield, etc)
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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."