Dorchester Times: Are More Businesses Coming To Dorchester?

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Are More Businesses Coming To Dorchester?

There have been interesting rumblings to start the new year. It appears there is a chance that 2013 could bring at least one or two new business to Dorchester, as more than one source has told us that investors are eyeing Dorchester as a spot for commerce.

Specialty Meats Store: One reader has told us that a younger area resident is considering opening his own smokehouse in town, offering quality meats and meat services. According to the source, a full meat case with assorted cuts of beef, pork -- and even buffalo -- would be offered. If the business plan comes to fruition, the business would offer full service slaughtering and meat processing of livestock and deer, while also providing catering services. No specifics regarding business location were provided to the Times.

Convenience Store: The Times staff has also heard there may be plans to bring a convenience store to Dorchester. According to our sources, one of whom provided a lengthy e-mail, Dorchester is a prime spot for a convenience store, especially after the closure of the Dorchester Grocery two years ago. No business entities or individuals were named as the investors who might open the store, but we believe there may be some truth to this rumor. It appears the empty lot adjacent to the fire hall, as well as a site along Highway 33 or Highway 6 are likely spots for this business.

Stay tuned to the Dorchester Times for more on these potential business stories. We would be interested to know what our readers are hearing regarding the possibility of new businesses making Dorchester home.

11 comments:

AnonymousJanuary 2, 2013 at 5:24 PM
Ive heard the convenience store gossip too but Ive heard it for years now
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DavidJanuary 2, 2013 at 9:25 PM

that's inconvenient!
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AnonymousJanuary 5, 2013 at 5:16 PM
I hear there will be a massage and aroma therapy clinic by fall 2013
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AnonymousJanuary 5, 2013 at 5:17 PM
what about " The Well "
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AnonymousJanuary 5, 2013 at 9:31 PM
I don't know if there's any truth to these stories or comments above, but if I were in my 30s or 40s, and is saved a little, why not try opening a business in a small town? Why work for "the man" your entire life in Lincoln or Crete. Be your own boss. Might be a few more headaches, esp with dicktator Bama in office, but well worth it if you build a loyal customer following.
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AnonymousJanuary 6, 2013 at 12:08 AM
Sure

Just look at the people who shop at Walmart and you think a small business will work

Crazy
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AnonymousJanuary 6, 2013 at 2:34 PM
ya your probably one of those people that shop at Wal-mart....CRAZY!
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AnonymousJanuary 6, 2013 at 3:09 PM
If I may interject, I'm getting very fatigued of hearing about Walmart– – And people using it as an excuse. Walmart has been a force since the early 1990s. Has it affected small towns? Of course! Is it going away? Of course not! But that doesn't mean there's not plenty of opportunity for mom and pop shops on Main Street. In all parts of the country. Just look at Seward to the north. What a vibrant example of what small-town Americana can be like and should be like.
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AnonymousJanuary 8, 2013 at 10:35 PM
Ok Einstein

Have at it

See how long you make it
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AnonymousJanuary 9, 2013 at 9:44 AM
this town needs a hardware store. Just a thought
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AnonymousJanuary 11, 2013 at 6:31 PM
This town needs paved streets, the streets are a muddy mess & they suck!
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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."