Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUND-UP: Flooding, Severe Spring Storms Predicted For Southeast Nebraska

Sunday, March 3, 2019

NEWS ROUND-UP: Flooding, Severe Spring Storms Predicted For Southeast Nebraska

Spring Flooding, Severe Weather Predicted For Our Area: The Lincoln newspaper reports that despite the sub-zero temps we're experiencing in early March, this time of year marks the start of what weather forecasters call "meteorological" spring, with thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes could be right around the corner. According to forecasters, spring is likely to continue the pattern of extreme weather that Lincoln and parts of Nebraska have experienced going back to last fall. Forecasting models show that Nebraska is one of four states likely to see higher-than-normal chances of severe weather, including tornadoes. The other states are Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. The National Weather Service is predicting an above-normal risk for flooding in eastern Nebraska. In Southeast Nebraska, above-normal flood risk is expected for the west fork of the Big Blue River -- north of Dorchester -- as well as Turkey Creek, just south of town.

Matthew Scholz Appointed To Village Board: Matthew Scholz is Dorchester's newest village board member. He will be sworn in at the Village Board of Trustees meeting on Monday (tomorrow), March 4. Scholz, formerly of Crete, was appointed to the board following the resignation of Matt Hoffman. Scholz will appear on the 2020 ballot, should he decide to run. Also serving on the current board are: Thomas Cerny (chairman), Andrea Pracheil, Roger Miller, and Sarah Wenz. Gloria Riley is Village Clerk / Treasurer, while Sarah Ehlers is Deputy Clerk. The village office phone is 402.946.3201.

Dorchester Gets High Marks From BestPlaces.net: Dorchester scores strong marks from the website BestPlaces.net. The site notes that the unemployment rate in Dorchester is 3.0% compared to the U.S. avg. of 3.9%. Recent job growth is positive, as Dorchester jobs have increased. The site also says that compared to the rest of the country, Dorchester's cost of living is 14.00% lower than the U.S. average. And Dorchester's population is 630 people. Since 2000, it has had a population growth of 2.44%. Meanwhile, Dorchester public schools spend $17,881 per student. There are about 9 students per teacher in Dorchester.

DHS Alum Drew Denker Announces at State Basketball Championships: We read today via social media that 2003 DHS Alum Drew Denker announced at this weekend's Nebraska high school girls basketball championship held at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln. Drew's better half wrote: "Could not be more proud of this guy for constantly chasing his dreams with announcing! Pretty special seeing him on TV announcing some state championship basketball games."

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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."