Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUND-UP: Dornan, Hoffman, Thompson Are Boys' State Reps

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

NEWS ROUND-UP: Dornan, Hoffman, Thompson Are Boys' State Reps

Dornan, Hoffman, Thompson Are Boys' State Reps: Dorchester's Jonathan Dornan, Ridge Hoffman and Josh Thompson have been selected to represent their community at Cornhusker Boys State this summer. The Longhorn juniors are being sponsored by the Dorchester Legion and Dorchester Auxiliary. Cornhusker Boys’ State is held annually during the summer before the senior year of high school, typically during the first week in June, on the main campus of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Boys’ State is a plan for training in the functional aspects of citizenship. Its purpose is to teach the youth of today constructive attitudes toward the American form of government. Boys’ State attempts to show that our form of government has not outworn its usefulness; that all a democracy needs is an intelligent citizenry and a clean, honest and impartial administration responsive to the will of the people. This program originated in Illinois in 1935.

School Yearbooks Will See Price Hike After April 15: If you'd like to order a 2019 Dorchester School yearbook, they are now on sale for $40 through April 15. After the 15th, the cost will go up to $43. Contact Dorchester Public School at (402) 946-2781 if you need more information to place your order.

DHS Journalism Students, Yearbook Take Home Top Honors: Dorchester students recently competed in the Journalism Education Association competition, which assembled more than 30 schools. Most of the schools were from Omaha, Lincoln and other Class A schools, while Dorchester was the smallest school in the competition. DHS' Harmony Shepherd received an excellent score in yearbook theme copy writing and photo/artistic illustration. Danni McKnight received an excellent in sports/action photography and an honorable mention in yearbook theme copy writing. Alli Novak received an honorable mention in photo/artistic illustration. Jose Real received an honorable mention in sports/action photography. DHS' entire 2017-18 yearbook received a superior for yearbook theme development -- the only school to receive the highest honor. The yearbook students are advised by Mrs. Sandy Severance.

DHS FBLA Students Qualify For Nationals In San Antonio: Congratulations to Dorchester FBLA for your successful trip to State Leadership Conference last week. According to social media posts, Dorchester has not one, not two, but eight students who have qualified for the National Leadership Conference in San Antonio, Texas in June. Dorchester's Future Business Leaders of America program continues to be one of the state's finest.

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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."