Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUND-UP: Polka Party This Sunday At Dorchester Legion, 3 p.m.

Monday, November 12, 2018

NEWS ROUND-UP: Polka Party This Sunday At Dorchester Legion, 3 p.m.

Polka Party This Sunday at Legion Hall: The Dorchester American Legion Hall on main street has become one of the most popular places in our region for polka. And there is another polka party this Sunday, Nov. 18, at the Legion Hall from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. The cover charge is only $5, and the kitchen and cash bar will be open. This Sunday's entertainment will be provided by the popular Kevin Chelewski.

Jr. High Play is Thursday Night: The Dorchester Jr. High will perform "Goldilocks on Trial" this Thursday evening, Nov. 15, at 7:00 in the west gym. Cast members include Mitzu Real, Jayana Duchek, Jacob Cerny, Esperanza Arriaga, Amber Kotas, Brett Ladely, Kayli Carey, Quinn Kasl, Dorothy Simmons, Fernando Perez, Hailey Schweitzer, Victoria Leavitt, Addison Lehr, and Makayla Schlueter.

Dorchester FBLA Holiday Vendor Show This Sunday: Want to get your Christmas shopping done early? Or maybe you want to sell a line of products to local customers? Dorchester's Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter will be hosting its third annual Holiday Vendor Extravaganza at the Dorchester High School Gymnasium (506 W. 9th St.) Sunday, Nov. 18, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event is intended to raise money for Longhorn students who attend the National FBLA Conference. There will be dozens of vendors at this huge event, making it the perfect venue to find high quality and unique Christmas gifts for your friends and loved ones. More information is available for sellers and buyers by contacting Kyleigh Lewis at klewis@dorchesterschool.org.

DHS Track and Field, 80 Springs Ago: The Times recently stumbled across an 80-year-old newspaper clipping from the April 9, 1939 Lincoln Journal and Star that gave a preview of that year's Dorchester track and field team. Under a headline "DORCHESTER STARTS TRACK PREPARATION," the story noted that "with four meets scheduled, Coach Dean Mitchell's Dorchester track team has started workouts. Four lettermen are available in Buford Grosscup, javelin and discus; Kenneth Frahm, hurdles and broad jump; Alvin Mariska, shot; and Melvin Rezabek, mile. Dorchester has meets slated with Milford, April 14; York invitational, a triangular with Western and Friend plus the county meet, May 2."

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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."