Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUNDUP: DHS Shines At CRC Track And Field Meet

Thursday, May 5, 2016

NEWS ROUNDUP: DHS Shines At CRC Track And Field Meet

It's time to get caught up with the latest news from Dorchester and the surrounding area. Here's what's trending:

DHS Shines At CRC: At this week's Crossroads Conference track and field competition, the Dorchester girls finished fourth out of the 13 teams competing. Leading the way were Maru Ruiz who took second place in the 100 meters with a time of 13:20; Lydia Wells who took second in the discus with a throw of 98-2; Bailey Velder who won the shot put with a toss of 38-3 1/2, followed by third-place finisher Avery Behrens who had a toss of 35-0; and Jacee Weber who won the long jump with a finish of 16-4, and won the triple jump with a mark of 36-7 3/4. Impressive performance ladies. Now if you can just convince more DHS boys to go out for more sports.

Legion Club To Open On Sundays?: At this point it is still hearsay, but the Times has received word from a reliable source that the Dorchester American Legion, along with the Sons of the American Legion, is looking at opening the Legion club on Sundays to serve beverages and food since City Slickers is closed that day of the week. According to the reports we've received, there have been discussions of the idea at recent Legion board meetings and there appears to be support among the members since opening the Legion club on Sundays wouldn't hurt City Slickers financially.

Crime Stoppers Signs Go Up: The Saline County C/URB Coalition unveiled new county Crime Stoppers signs at their regular meeting in April. You may have seen the new sign on the Dorchester population sign on Highway 33. These signs are part of the group’s latest project to raise awareness of safety and the prevention of underage risky behaviors. Crime Stoppers county number is 1-800-345-3361. The signs were delivered to the Nebraska Department of Roads shop in Dorchester for placement. If community members wish to become involved with this group, or simply wish to be added to the “C/URB” mailing list, please contact the coalition through its chairperson, Tim McDermott, Saline County Commissioner, District 4, at 402-821-3581, or via email, nebraskatim@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."