Dorchester Times: Dorchester's Construction Boom Of 2023

Friday, August 4, 2023

Dorchester's Construction Boom Of 2023

In 2007, Dorchester experienced a construction boom.

Then just seven years later, in 2014, the village experienced another one.

Now, in 2023, it's happening yet again.

The lesson here: Never give up on Dorchester. Never.

The construction boom of 2023 is a sound combination of public and private projects. (We always raise our collective eyebrows when elected officials call taxpayer-funded public projects "economic development.")

Moreover, the projects are aimed at enhancing Dorchester's main street, athletics program, and first-responders' capabilities.

Fire Department Expansion

After decades of no exterior changes or additions to the Dorchester Fire Hall, the fire and rescue department will be nearly doubling their facility space as a new addition is going in as we write this report.

Village taxpayers are funding the construction, which should not only boost the capabilities of the volunteers, but will also enhance the appearance of south main street (Washington Ave.).

The site of the new project has been vacant since the early 1990s when a residence that once stood there was torn down.

Nerud Field

A fresh new look will greet those who attend Dorchester Longhorn football games and other activities at beautiful Nerud Field this fall. Dorchester Public School has replaced the old "crow's nest" with a very large field box on the west side of the field.

Dorchester-based BZ Construction is erecting the new project, which comes after other improvements in recent years such as new lights and a new scoreboard. The large structure will not only house announcers and media during games, it will also provide an ample amount of storage for the football program and grounds crew.

In addition to the new field box is new fencing on the south end of the field, just beyond the long jump strip. This welcome addition will not only help parents ensure kids don't escape the confines of Nerud Field, the fencing will also keep trespassers out of neighbor's property. A common-sense and long overdue project.

Main Street Building

As reported by this blog, the old Dorchester Telephone Building was torn down last fall to make room for a new building -- one that could potentially house up to four businesses, according to inside sources.

However, progress on the building was delayed for nearly 8 months for unknown reasons, and passers-by saw only a framed structure on the site.

This week, progress on the new building has resumed with a flurry of activity. At this pace, the new building should be finished in no time, adding a place for new commerce and jobs on the village's major thoroughfare.

This blog does not have any details to offer about what business may be inhabiting the new space.

Readers with updates on any of these projects should feel free to leave comments below.

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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."