Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUND-UP: Junior High Boys Set New Track Record

Tuesday, April 21, 2026

NEWS ROUND-UP: Junior High Boys Set New Track Record

New Dorchester Junior High Track Record: It appears Dorchester is building a lot of talent for its future boys athletics. Recently, junior high speedsters (pictured left to right) Brenden Bergmeyer, Harrison Vyhnalek, Payton Zoubek, and Hunter Sherwood broke Dorchester Junior High's 4x400 record. The foursome ran a 4:07.9 at the Osceola Invite beating the previous record of 4:12. Congrats to these rising Longhorn stars.

Village Board Addresses Key Issues in Early 2026: As street paving continues in Dorchester this spring, the Dorchester Village Board of Trustees has been active early in 2026, addressing critical staffing transitions, infrastructure maintenance, and public safety. In January, the board promoted Brent Kasl to Utility Superintendent. By March, Gavin Hobson was introduced as the new Assistant Utilities Superintendent. The board continues to evaluate critical infrastructure, specifically the design for a new well and the acquisition of a generator for Well #5. Discussions regarding future projects at the quonset site and potential re-zoning of residential lots are ongoing as the board awaits formal proposals. The board also recently approved the purchase of six flashing stop signs funded by keno funds. And the board approved the use of the village's federal ID to assist Tabor Hall in applying for the Farmers Cooperative Community Grant program. You can always read the Village Board meeting minutes here.

DPS Board Completes Busy First Quarter: The Dorchester Public School Board has focused its early 2026 sessions on strategic growth and safety, punctuated by the high-profile approval to purchase 605 W. 9th St. and 710 W. Depot St. properties from Ziemann & Sons Construction. During the Feb. 9 meeting, Superintendent Dr. Nick Mumm emphasized that these land acquisitions are central to a broader safety initiative aimed at protecting students and staff during the increasingly busy school drop-off and pick-up hours. In March, the board voted to approve an extension of the Superintendent's contract, as well as a healthy "classified staff wage increase of 4%" for the upcoming school year. You can read DPS Board minutes here.

Dorchster Area Could See 2" of Rain This Week: Forecasting models used by the Channel 10/11 weather team in Lincoln show the next six days could bring our area as much as two inches of much-needed rain. In a social media post, meteorologist Brad Anderson wrote: "I know what some of you are thinking ...You'll believe it when you see it. I get it." Nearly all of Saline County is in severe drought, while about 40% of Nebraska is in extreme drought, according to the Drought Monitor map.

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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."