Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUND-UP: Three Dorchester Vets Honored

Sunday, November 13, 2022

NEWS ROUND-UP: Three Dorchester Vets Honored

Dorchester Vets Honored: Three area veterans -- Kenny Nohavec, Jeff Novak, and Raymond Rezabek -- received quilts of valor during the Nov. 11 Veteran's Day program at Dorchester Public School. In case you missed it, check out our post on the Dorchester Legion and its 100-plus years as an important part our community.

DHS Basketball Practice Begins This Week: DHS basketball teams begin practice this week. There is much excitement surrounding both teams, which are expected to be quite competitive in the Crossroads Conference. Fans can get a look at the DHS boys' basketball schedule here. The girls' schedule has not yet been posted online.

Farmers Cooperative in the Spotlight: Farmers Cooperative, headquartered in Dorchester, was recently spotlighted by 10/11 News for cooperatives' impact on local communities. Farmers' CEO Allan Zumpfe told 10/11 that since 2002, the business has spent "about $400 million of capital expenditures in our communities." Much of that has been dedicated to improve the business' Dorchester facilities, including expanding and modernizing its office building twice over the past decade -- and paving Depot Ave. near the grain elevators, significantly reducing dust in our community. We thank Farmers for their commitment to Dorchester.

Drought Worsens in Nebraska: Some of the nation's worst drought conditions are in Nebraska, specifically the northwest and southwest sections of the Cornhusker State. As of Nov. 10, all of Saline County had been placed in the "severe drought" category.

Antiques Make a Great Christmas Gift: Tired of giving family and friends junk made in China? Dorchester's antiques store, Hedgehog & Hubbys, is urging Times readers to shop locally for their gifts. Owner Evelyn Thalmann reports that she has a full inventory of antiques, especially soup bowls and cookie jars, both of which make great gifts. Just knock on her home door to be let into the shop, which is located on Highway Spur 76E on the west edge of Dorchester.

Voters Under 30 Overwhelming Support Far-Left Candidates: Voters under the age of 30 voted for Democrats 28 times more often than the voted for Republicans, according to 2022 post-election data. This is far above the historical norm and proof that public education's politicalization and indoctrination has worked. Meanwhile, the number of students able to pass math, science, and reading tests has plummeted to modern-day lows. Two-thirds of your property tax dollars go to directly to your local school district. Those who pay the bills should be more involved with local K-12 leadership and curriculum.

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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."