Dorchester Times: STORY OF 2017: Signs Everywhere Of Dorchester's Positive Momentum

Saturday, December 30, 2017

STORY OF 2017: Signs Everywhere Of Dorchester's Positive Momentum

Several improvements positively affecting Dorchester are collectively the Dorchester Times "Story of the 2017."

Among the positive developments have been:

A significant renovation of Dorchester's main street buildings.
Further success of Dorchester's two restaurants on main street, both considered tops in our region.
Expansion of existing businesses.
New lights at Dorchester's Nerud Field, replacing the original lights from the 1950s.
A town-sponsored crackdown on negligent property owners resulting in cleanups and reinvestment.
A new research building and several repainted buildings adorn the grounds of the Saline County Museum.
A new superintendent who is taking Dorchester Public Schools to the next level.
Homes for sale that sell within days, if not hours.
The announced return of Dorchester Football in 2018.
Larger participation numbers in elementary-aged activities.
A planned water park, as well as other new projects in town.
A resurgence of young couples and young families moving to town and the nearby countryside.

Yes, there have been plenty of positive developments in Dorchester.

Perhaps among the most exciting of this year's developments is the face-lift given to main street over the summer and fall, starting with the exterior improvements made to the cornerstone city-owned building that houses City Hall and Donna's Hair Creations. This building is a key focal point of our downtown, so residents were glad to see the village leadership make the investment.

Soon after, the owners of City Slickers made exterior improvements to their very popular eating/drinking establishment, as well as the two buildings to the north. It was like a breath of fresh air had swept through Dorchester's main street, giving the business district a new pulse. This was followed by very noticeable improvements made to the former grocery store, which now serves as a community gathering center and place of worship.

All of this proves that positive momentum breeds positive momentum in a community.

Speaker Tony Robbins once wrote the following:

Have you ever noticed that depressed people tend to get more depressed? Passionate people tend to get more excited? Successful people tend to breed further success? This is called the power of momentum.

It starts by creating a map from where you are to where you want to be. You need to gain clarity about where you’ve been, where you are now, and where you want to go so that you can create lasting change in every area of your life. Everyone has some part of their life they want to improve -- “gaps” that exist between who they are and what they want to be. You need to develop a step-by-step process and a plan to close this gap now.

Communities are like people. You're either getting better or you aren't. You're either part of the positive change or you aren't.

We are glad to report that Dorchester continues moving in the right direction. The community needs to maintain the positive momentum in 2018.

1 comment:

Jim SehnertJuly 21, 2017 at 11:53 PM
It is very gratifying to see some of this happening. The town was looking good this summer.
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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."