Dorchester Times: Time's Running Out To Nominate Christmas Displays In Dorchester

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Time's Running Out To Nominate Christmas Displays In Dorchester

The Christmas spirit is alive and well in Dorchester. Already, we are seeing so many displays of holiday cheer -- like this house on Jefferson Street.

From one end of the village to the other, Christmas lights and holiday displays have gone up quickly, greeting residents and out-of-towners alike.

We want to know which Dorchester-area homes you think best reflect the Christmas and holiday spirit. And we're taking your votes! But time is running out for nominations.

What Dorchester residence gets your vote for best holiday display? Give us your nomination by Sunday, Dec. 15, by leaving it in the "comments section" of this post. Or e-mail your nomination to Dorchester.Times@gmail.com.

We will announce which displays received the most nominations by Dec. 17.

7 comments:

cynical richardNovember 27, 2012 at 5:03 PM
................. i here by formally nominate the sewer treatment plant south of town ............................. the green glow at night is so pleasant this time of year ....................... its like santas own persnal airport run way lights .....................................
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WBSNovember 29, 2012 at 11:36 AM
My vote goes to the Chuck and Sandy Rains home on the south side of the tracks. But don't you guys ever watch 'Charlie Brown's Christmas' program? A lighting contest only plays into the commercialization of the holiday.

:( :( :( :( :(
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AnonymousDecember 5, 2012 at 1:53 PM
I vote for the house on the corner of Stephens street. Who ever lives there, I don't know his name, does a great job every year and my kids love to drive by and look at the lights every chance we get. Keep up the holiday spirit
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AnonymousDecember 4, 2013 at 4:43 PM
Gotta give it to the Hennings! What an awesome display. My relatives from Lincoln were awed by the sight.
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AnonymousDecember 6, 2013 at 9:56 AM
I see the crete news has their own lighting contest. Ha! Good to see they are following your leading, Dorch Times.
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Fulton St. GalDecember 8, 2013 at 10:53 PM
I like the home on the corner of 8th and Fulton, its the reason for the season.
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AnonymousDecember 9, 2013 at 11:57 AM
I find the Thompson mansion candles in the window very soothing...traditional of the early 1900's when people placed candles in the windows so travelers could find their homes ( no yard lights ya know )
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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."