Dorchester Times: School Cornerstone Prepared To Be Opened

Friday, May 9, 2008

School Cornerstone Prepared To Be Opened

With only a few days until the 1927 Dorchester school building is torn down, the school cornerstone has been prepared to be opened. From our examination, it appears unlikely anything is behind the cornerstone or its foundation.

As seen by those who attended today's school auction, the face of the cornerstone -- put in place some 81 years ago -- was removed this week. (Update: 5/10, 6 p.m.) According to reports, the cornerstone face was carefully removed and will be preserved.

Last year, we posed the question: Does Dorchester have its own 'National Treasure'? That 2004 movie revolved around a treasure hidden by the country's Founding Fathers, many of whom were Freemasons.

Our question arose after readers alerted the Times that there might be some interesting items in the Dorchester school cornerstone, located in the southeast corner of the building.

According to longtime resident Don Eret, the June 2, 1927 edition of The Dorchester Star contained the following notice: "The Grand Lodge of Nebraska Ancient Free and Accepted Masons will lay the corner stone of our new school house next Friday afternoon at 2:00 pm, June third. Everybody welcome."

Eret also reports that page 3 of the June 9, 1927 edition of The Dorchester Star reported:

The cornerstone of Dorchester’s new school building was laid last Friday afternoon by the officers of AM Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Nebraska. Most worshipful Grand Master Edwin D. Critan of Chardron conducting the ceremony, assisted by a large number of Masons from neighboring lodges and Doric Lodge No. 118 of Dorchester.

Eret said last fall that he doubted there is anything inside the cornerstone, while some other longtime residents said they thought chances were good the cornerstone held items from the 1920s.

Developing...

4 comments:

AnonymousMay 9, 2008 at 10:01 PM
So...From the picture, it appears there was nothing in the corner stone. Don't worry, folks. In 10 or 15 years there will be stories about the incredible treasures that were found there. That's how things work. Sort of like when you go back to an alumni gathering and all the people who ignored or hated you tell you what a great person you were and how much they liked you. By the way, did anyone ever dig up the "time capsule" that was burried about half way between the building and the sidewalk, under a tree that isn't there anymore, a little west of the cornerstone in 1971?
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AnonymousMay 9, 2008 at 10:05 PM
When's the wrecking ball supposed to hit the place. I want to be there to see it!
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AnonymousMay 9, 2008 at 11:17 PM
The face of the cornerstone was not demolished. After much hard work it was slid out of it's resting place and put on a cart on Thursday afternoon.
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AnonymousMay 12, 2008 at 3:11 PM
Will someone let us know a few days ahead of time, the time and date of the razing of the old school? Thanks in advance.
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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."