Dorchester Times: UPDATE: Dorchester's New Water Tower Marks New Era

Thursday, March 7, 2013

UPDATE: Dorchester's New Water Tower Marks New Era

UPDATE: Dorchester's skyline has become noticeably different.

Just hours ago, the crews working on Dorchester's new water tower attached the bulb. It's quite a sight from Highway 33. The picture at the right was taken around 2:30 this afternoon.

Inside sources say the crew's crane was not big enough to lift the entire bulb yesterday, so they had to cut off the top third in order to raise this much today. Once in place, the crews will weld the top lid while hundreds of feet from the ground.

For the past century, since the early 1900's, the current water tower has been a focal point in our community. That will change when the village's new water tower is complete.

Work on the new tower is supposed to be completed no later than April 1. The project could be wrapped up by the first day of spring, the Times is told.

The new tower will display Dorchester’s new village logo from high above the town's rooftops for decades to come.

"This will be a great first step in re-branding Dorchester's public image for the new century," said one community leader.

Records show that Dorchester's old water tower has been in its current location since the late 1880's. The structure's appearance has changed little since the turn of last century, according to research by the Times staff.

The new village water tower, located in the far southeastern corner of town near the rail line, is much more modern in appearance. One expert said it will be very similar to Fairmont's water tower in both size and shape.

When the old tower is no longer needed, it will certainly mark the end of an era.

Dorchester's modern-day water system was established in 1914 after citizen's approved a $15,000 water works bond. The old tower was erected prior to that time, although the structure has undergone several upgrades and renovations.

11 comments:

AnonymousFebruary 4, 2013 at 10:02 PM
Fill 'er up with the good stuff and Dorchester could have one helluva kegger....
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AnonymousFebruary 4, 2013 at 10:02 PM
Fill 'er up with the good stuff and Dorchester could have one helluva kegger....
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AnonymousFebruary 5, 2013 at 12:08 AM
Please don't put a ladder on the new water tower. I can still recall being in shock as a small child and watching one of the Polfus brothers climb the iron giant with a cat under his arm all the way to the top. That was the day I learned that cats don't bounce and they don't have nine lives.
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wfbFebruary 5, 2013 at 9:42 AM
I hope the new tower helps with water pressure in some parts of town...
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AnonymousFebruary 6, 2013 at 12:35 AM
Cool looking tower! BRINGING D-VILLE INTO THE 21ST CENTURY, BABY!!
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AnonymousFebruary 6, 2013 at 6:12 PM
Where was the old city dump? Water quality?......
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AnonymousMarch 7, 2013 at 4:03 PM
Considering how long the old watertower stood I hope the workers did a good job and didnt try to rush this because they were under some deadline. A watertower says a lot about a town, regardless of how trival that may seem. It also serves one of the most essential roles in providing good potable water for its residents.
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AnonymousMarch 8, 2013 at 9:08 AM
We will always have water in town. Just get it out of the pothole s in the streets.
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MarkMarch 9, 2013 at 12:58 AM
What will be done with the old water tower? I would like to see it remain standing, at least for historical purposes.
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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."