Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUND-UP: Wrapping Up Fall Sports; Tragedy For Former Dorchester Family

Saturday, October 19, 2024

NEWS ROUND-UP: Wrapping Up Fall Sports; Tragedy For Former Dorchester Family

DHS Volleyball Wraps Up Regular Season: The Crossroads Conference Volleyball Tournament in York begins today (Saturday, Oct. 19), with the Lady Longhorns earning the CRC's third-seed slot. The Lady Longhorns (16-9) will play their first game at 5:30 p.m. this evening at the York Auditorium. Should DHS win, the team will advance to Monday's 6 p.m. contest. The tourney wraps up on Tuesday night, Oct. 22.

Dorchester Football Prepares for Season's Finale: The DHS football team will play their final contest of 2024 at Meridian on Friday, Oct. 25. The Longhorns (1-6) have struggled to keep games close this season, dropping their last three contests by a combined score of 163-27.

Dorchester Junior High Wins Quiz Bowl: Dorchester took home the gold this past week when its "A Team" won the junior high quiz bowl in Osceola today. The DPS team captured the top prize by beating 19 other teams. Congrats to these top scholars.

Donna's Hair Creations to Be Temporarily Closed: Local barber and hair stylist Donna Parks is reportedly having surgery Nov. 19, according to her social media posts. Due to a six to eight week recovery period, Donna's Hair Creations will be closed likely until the Christmas period. Donna says she "will maintain my workload until the day of the surgery, potentially with increased intensity. To ensure continuity, please schedule appointments in advance by calling (402) 641-1734; I will be available, including on days off."

Blood Drive Is October 30: Dorchester Public School is asking area residents to participate in a blood drive set for Wednesday, Oct. 30, from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Visit RedCrossBlood.org and enter "Dorchester" to schedule an appointment.

DHS Alum Honored: Rachael (Rezabek) Biar, a 1990 graduate of DHS, was honored to receive the National Association of State Treasurers (NAST) Public Finance Employee of the Year award recently. Biar was recognized for her 30 years of public service and for helping all families achieve their education goals with 529 savings plans.

Former DPS Student Passes: Max Real Cisneros, 14, a former student of Dorchester, passed away following an automobile accident on Oct. 18. Max was a freshman at Friend-Exeter-Milligan High School. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 10:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Crete. Visitation with the family present will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 22 from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. at Farmer Funeral Home in Exeter. See the full obituary.

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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."