Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUNDUP: Dorchester School Hosts Open House Tuesday Night

Saturday, August 13, 2016

NEWS ROUNDUP: Dorchester School Hosts Open House Tuesday Night

School Open House Is Tuesday: As the kids (and parents) mentally prepare to begin another school year, Dorchester Public Schools will hold an open house the evening before the first day of school. The open house will take place Tuesday, Aug. 16, 6:30 p.m. in the gym. Students will meet their new teachers and see their classrooms. Students can bring their school supplies so they're ready when the bell rings on Wednesday. DPS' new superintendent, Mr. Schrunk, will also greet students and parents. Be there as the 2016-2017 school year gets underway!

Dorchester Preschool Taking Applications Now: The Dorchester Preschool is now taking applications for enrollment for the 2016-17 school year. The preschool specializes in preparing young minds with the thinking skills and concepts needed for school readiness in the 21st century. Dorchester Preschool is available for kids who will be 3 years old by September 1, and for 4-year-olds who plan to attend Kindergarten the next fall. For more information, call Doris at 946-2066 during school hours, or at her home at 402-821-2547.

Husker Fantasy Camp Design Carved In Local Corn Field: Did you happen to see U.S. Cellular's design carved in a corn field just west of town? Probably not, unless you were operating your drone or flying yourself up and around the Dorchester skies. The image to the right is from the social media account of Joel Weber, the DHS alum who is owner and operator of Weber Feed Yards. We are told by inside sources that the U.S. Cellular Husker Fantasy Camp Sweepstakes offers an exciting opportunity that includes a Memorial Stadium tour, chalk talk with former Nebraska football players,on-field activities, game jersey and playbook. Whatever it is, that's quite a billboard.

Old-Fashioned Replica Signs Available For Your Business: Some of our readers recall days when every business on most main streets across America had their own cool-looking neon or bulb-lit sign. Now businesses in Dorchester and elsewhere can replicate that look to draw attention to their operations. A company based in San Diego will personalize this sign for you and your needs. Click here to see the company's Craigslist ad. (The Times is neither receiving compensation for this mention, nor are we affiliated with this business. We just wanted to share this interesting ad with our readers.)

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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."