Dorchester Times: A Rallying Cry For Downtown Dorchester

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

A Rallying Cry For Downtown Dorchester

Today, we share with our readers an exchange from our social media account.

There's no doubt, Dorchester's downtown needs a shot in the arm.

That's why we posted on our Facebook account the following: "Dorchester must support Tyser Auto Sales and Tyser Repair. Let's take back our downtown, building by building. We start by promoting our existing businesses."

Tyser Auto Sales replied a thoughtful remark.

They wrote: "Thank you Vil Dweller. After spending two-plus weeks without City Slickers Bar and Grill being open, I hope everyone in town understands how important every business in Dorchester is.

"First State Bank, Donna Hair Creations, Barley Specialties, Farmers Cooperative -- sorry if I left anyone out. Just looking at main street. If anyone wants to see this town grow, it is especially true now. As a business owner, I can feel the pain Jason and Kathy (City Slickers' owners) are going through, as they rebuild with the hope that everyone supports them in the end. Without them, we would be losing a business and a part of history of Dorchester; we can not afford to lose another business. So keep your heads high and show these people that you will support them, in good times and bad.

"Thank you all for what you do for beautiful downtown Dorchester. It's all we have."

5 comments:

SMDecember 9, 2015 at 5:43 PM
It takes MONEY to improve main street. Someone must be WILLING TO BUY the buildings, put the MONEY into them to RENOVATE, and then PATRONIZE the businesses that occupy those buildings. Business owners have to be smart enough to realize they need to bring customers from outside of the village, be it online sales or having a specialty for outsiders to drive here for. Two problems as I see it..

1. Everyone wants to use SOMEONE ELSE'S MONEY be it the government's, their neighbors, anyone's but their own.

2. No one wants to spend TIME and RESOURCES to ORGANIZE. We need LEADERSHIP.
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AnonymousDecember 9, 2015 at 9:29 PM
It's about time someone tell it like it is.
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Fulton St. GalDecember 9, 2015 at 10:00 PM
Really appreciate this story. Thank you.
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AnonymousDecember 10, 2015 at 10:00 AM
With the problems our Legion is having money wise why not kill two birds with one stone? Because our bar is closed why not take advantage to our Legion and OPEN it up. They could serve coffee and Tea for our morning crowd and Beer and Drinks starting maybe 4 P.M. Use the kitchen there and have Soup and maybe just Hamburgers. It could be a good way to get our Legion rolling again and give people somewhere to go. Everyone wants to support our local businesses however ya can't buy a car everyday or have a vehicle repaired if you don't need to or if your lucky you don't need to buy gas more then a couple times a week. If you want us to support local business give us something to support.
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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."