Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUNDUP: Young Longhorns Go Fishing, DHS Journalists Rack Up More Awards

Thursday, April 27, 2017

NEWS ROUNDUP: Young Longhorns Go Fishing, DHS Journalists Rack Up More Awards

Dorchester Grade Schoolers Go Fishing: It's fishing season and Dorchester Public Schools recently shared pictures from the 4th and 5th grades' Tuesday field trip to Aksarben Aquarium near Gretna. The young Longhorns went to release their trout, according to the schoool's Facebook post.

Dorchester Journalists Compete Against Some Of Nebraska's Largest Schools: Dorchester High School this week placed fifth in the the sweepstakes titles in the Nebraska School Activities Association state journalism contest in Norfolk. DHS, which is a small Class D-2 school, has a longstanding reputation for producing high quality journalism students. At this week's NSAA contest, Longhorn journalists finished behind Columbus Scotus, Yutan, Sandy Creek and Mount Michael. That's fifth place out of nearly 40 schools competing. In the Yearbook Sports Writing contest, DHS' Brittney Zoubek took first place. Meanwhile, Zoe McKnight placed 4th in Sports/Action Photography and 5th in Yearbook Theme Copy Writing; Makenna Bird placed 3rd in Yearbook Feature Writing and 3rd in Yearbook Sports Feature Writing; Michelle Kotas placed 5th in Advertising and 4th in Yearbook Theme Copy Writing; and Brittney Zoubek also placed 2nd in Yearbook Feature Writing. The team of Makenna Bird, Michelle Kotas, and Brittney Zoubek placed 7th in Yearbook Theme Development (just one place away from medaling). Breanna Muff placed 8th in News/Feature Photography. (She was the only freshman in the event, and almost all of the competitors were seniors). Congrats to Brittney and all of DHS' budding journalists.

All About The Housing: The Dorchester Times has frequently written about the lack of available housing in Dorchester, as well as the number of vacant homes that are neither for sale nor rent. Recently, we received an e-mail from a reader who works in Dorchester who wrote this: "I am hoping you can help me. Several times, I have had people ask about available houses to rent or buy. The city has been of no help; they have told people to drive around and look for signs. Is there anyone or anything I can get more info? I would like to help Dorchester grow." Sounds like its time to get a housing plan in place, Dorchester.

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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."