Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUNDUP: Blizzard Watch, Buffalo Feed Attendance

Sunday, January 31, 2016

NEWS ROUNDUP: Blizzard Watch, Buffalo Feed Attendance

Here is some of the latest news from Dorchester and the surrounding area:

URGENT -- Tuesday's Blizzard Watch: Dorchester and the surrounding area are under a blizzard watch, which is in effect from Monday, 6 p.m. until midnight Wednesday. The National Weather Service is saying a mix of rain and snow will begin Monday afternoon before tuning to all snow by Monday evening. Winds will be blow from the northeast up to 30 mph, with gusts of 40 mph, before dying down Tuesday night. Visibility could be less than a quarter of a mile. Snow accumulations: 8 inches or more. See the latest forecast and radar images here. (UPDATE: The NWS has issued a winter storm warning for our area. It now appears 6-10 inches will mix with 35 mph wind gusts from late tonight through early Wednesday morning.)

Nearly 400 Attend Dorchester Legion's Buffalo Feed: Anyone passing through on Dorchester's main street Sunday would have been hard pressed to find a parking spot. We are told via e-mail that around 400 people showed up at the Dorchester Legion's annual buffalo. Undoubtedly, this is one of the biggest and best winter events in Saline County -- made even better when the thermometer hits 50 degrees on a Sunday in late January. The Dorchester Legion, Auxiliary, Sons of American Legion and their volunteers make us proud to be from Dorchester.

Weber Feed Yards Spotlighted In AP Story: A story running on the Associated Press news wire, which covers the state and nation, talks about farmers increasingly driving heavy, large newer equipment on Nebraska's highways. The AP reports that a bill at the Legislature has been introduced to exempt several types of farm equipment from the weight and load restrictions. County governments oppose the bill and blame the heavy machines for damaging their roads, especially "around feedlots." The article quotes cattle producers and feedlot owners, including Dorchester's own Joel Weber, who gives the feeders' side of the story.

DeWitt's 'Operation BridgeSit' A Success: Did you hear about the DeWitt residents who, on behalf of the DeWitt Area Recovery Team -- DART, for short -- sat in chairs above a Turkey Creek bridge to raise awareness and money for unmet needs in DeWitt following last spring's flood damage? Their bold tactics worked. The two men raised about $6,000 over the weekend, with more money likely from a PayPal account. Why tell you about this? Because this is the essence of small-town spirit and civic mindedness. To donate, send checks to Blue Valley Community Action, 620 Fifth St., Fairbury, NE 68352 (refer to DART in subject line).

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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."