Dorchester Times: COMMUNITY CONVERSATION: An Idea For Main Street

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

COMMUNITY CONVERSATION: An Idea For Main Street

The Times received the following letter from reader Laura Sysel regarding her business idea to help redevelop Dorchester's main street.

Today, we share it with the community and all who care about Dorchester's future:

Dear Dorchester Times:

I have considered contacting the Times before with my idea, but now that I noticed the story about the price reduction of the building that housed Ben's Iron Grill, I felt even more compelled to submit my idea. I have considered the option of Ben’s building along with several others in town. What is holding me back is that I have an option on a house to move to my property in the country and financing.

I would be open to investors or a partner for an in-town property. I have had a business idea for quite some time and would love it if you could promote it and see if there would be any interest in such a business among potential investors who want to get it off the ground.

I was originally looking to have the business out in the country on my property, but with my desire to work with the youth of Dorchester, I feel it would be better suited to in town. With Dorchester Public School no longer offering a Home Economics program (or Family Consumer Science as they call it now), I would really like to gear the business to the youth of town to fill some of the void in our financial education. I would welcome adults as well who want to learn new skills. I have been wavering back and forth on location for this business. Community support would make a huge difference.

Here is my multi-faceted business concept:

1.) The first would be rental based. I would have cake pans and supplies as well as wedding/prom/party decorations. Other things could also be added to the rental part.

2.) Teach cake decorating classes, as well as home canning and cooking. I would be open to other individuals wanting to teach a skill like some of those offered through SCC.

3.) Have custom embroidery and sewing items for sale, as well as teaching anyone wanting to learn.

4.) Provide alteration services.

5.) We would have handmade baby gifts, school based gifts, etc. for sale. Other crafters in the area could sell their items, as well.

6.) I would like to have an area for scrapbooking and supplies. Also a space for classes and group meetings.

I have already talked to the bank about a loan. I have many of the supplies on hand already so there wouldn't be much more to attain. I am currently working on writing the business plan so I may proceed with the loan application.

You are welcome to post any of this on the blog or contact me for more information. Our youth really need other things to do then roam the streets and such.

Laura Sysel
(402) 580-8533
Laura.sysel@gmail.com

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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."