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Saturday, November 29, 2025

Two Memorable Dorchester Properties Gone

Dorchester looks noticeably different this week after the removal of a pair of well-known local structures.

Demolition crews have removed most of the former former Ford dealership and garage at the corner of 8th Street and Washington Avenue (Main Street). Currently owned by LJ Barley of Barley Specialties, the building had been used for storage since business operations ceased in the mid-1970s following the retirement of Henry Sehnert.

The structure sustained major roof damage during last August's severe windstorm. According to credible reports emailed to the Times, Barley intends to build on the site.

Not all residents we have spoken with are optimistic. Some have raised concerns about what may replace the former Ford garage. Multiple residents noted that the last property Barley purchased and tore down — the lot just south of the city park — has since been used for storing scrap metal and inoperable vehicles, blighting the community. However, Barley's new building to the north of the current demolition project has added considerable value to Main Street by bringing two new businesses to town.

"This site is extremely important considering its prominence along Dorchester’s main business corridor," said one resident who emailed the Times.

Meanwhile, another landmark disappeared as Dorchester’s historic "Sears home," located at 201 Washington Ave. for the past century, was lifted from its foundation and transported out of town on Thursday, Nov. 26. Built around 1925 as a Sears and Roebuck mail order kit, was transported out of town Thursday, Nov. 26. The house, which was a Times' Home Improvement Award winner in 2023, was a rare surviving example of its kind in the area. It has reportedly been moved near the West Blue Church northeast of Dorchester, where it is expected to be preserved.

With these two departures, Dorchester loses both a significant piece of its Main Street commercial past and a bit of its residential architectural heritage. In a town where familiar landmarks help anchor community identity, residents will be watching closely to see what fills the newly open spaces — and how village leaders and property owners choose to balance preservation, progress, and property stewardship in the months ahead.

Thursday, August 31, 2023

Home Improvement Award Winners For 2023

Readers may remember the Dorchester Times in the past has named properties throughout town as recipients of our Home Improvement Awards.

We last did this in 2018, when we bestowed our Home Improvement Awards to properties on Dorchester's east side. So it has been a while.

Earlier this week, members of the Dorchester Times staff took a long walk through our village and added to our list of improved homes that stand out -- homes owned by property owners who deserve to be recognized for their investment in our community.

Here are the Times' Home Improvement Award winners for 2023:

Large House Category - 600 W 9th St.: Over the past year, this has become one of Dorchester's most notable homes. The owners continue their mission to improve our community one house at a time. Simply said, this isn't their first rodeo. Their eye for detail is complemented by impeccable taste. As this stately property continues to undergo its impressive transformation, we say kudos to the hard-working owners who are renovating this standout home. At this time, we are not certain whether this house will be occupied by the owners or if it will soon be listed.

Smaller House Category - 203 Washington Ave.: This renovation deserves recognition because the owners have established a model for how to make the most of a smaller property and grow its value to the maximum. Not only has the home been improved and the living space been expanded, but this property boasts one of the best gardens in Saline County. The home is a Sears and Roebuck house, according to our records, built in the early 1900s -- so it has an interesting history as well. A big Times thumbs-up for these owners.

If you feel we should consider other properties for the Times' Home Improvement Award, email us at Dorchester.Times@gmail.com.

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Modular Homes Are Likely The Future For Most New Home Buyers

Home prices are very much overvalued in the Lincoln and Omaha areas, including in areas as close in proximity as Milford and Seward. Most prospective newer home buyers can only laugh and shake their heads, unless they are desperate.

Experts say this is due to numerous factors, including:

Surrounding farm ground prices being pushed to unreasonably inflated values by wealthy and/or well-financed bidders, thereby affecting all real estate prices.

Cheap money caused by artificially low interest rates charged by the Fed for the past decade.

A shortage of available homes due to Baby Boomers staying in their homes longer than previous generations, as well as the increasing average age of American homes.

Fewer new homes being built due to shortage of home builders and contractors.

Home builders choosing to focus on custom-built homes of $500,000 or more, instead of middle-class structures.

Inflated home prices and the shortage of home builders willing to take on middle-class home construction -- not too mention stricter lending rules following the Great Recession -- make it tough for communities like Dorchester to expand their housing stock with new homes.

That's why we wanted to use this post as an opportunity to explore modular home builders and retailers in our area.

Modular homes are not mobile homes, which depreciate in value and do not improve a community. Instead, modular homes are real homes, built section-by-section in a factory setting, indoors, where they are never subjected to adverse weather conditions like a typical stick-built home. The individual sections move through the factory, with the company's quality control department checking them every step. They are placed on a pre-made foundation, professionally joined, and completed by a local builder.

What's more, modular homes can lead to significant cost savings versus traditional stick-built homes. Think of modular manufacturing as a smarter, more efficient way of home building, just as the assembly line was for automobiles beginning over 100 years ago. Best of all, the quality of modular homes has improved exponentially over just the past decade, to the point that one can no longer tell what was stick-built and what was produced off site.

We think modular homes are the future of home building for the middle- and working class, as well as for those who want to avoid a lifetime of mortgage payments. They definitely offer at least a partial solution for smaller communities like Dorchester that are in need of new houses.

In our area, there are several modular home builders to choose from, including:

Heritage Homes -- Wayne, Neb. (Click on the company's name to see websites.)

Vantage Pointe Homes -- Lincoln, Neb.

BonnaVilla Modular Homes -- Aurora, Neb.

Champion Homes -- York, Neb.

Harvest Homes -- Omaha, Neb.

Wardcraft Homes -- Clay Center, Kan.

Sears Manufactured Homes -- Lincoln, Neb.

Iseman Homes -- Kearney, Neb.

Quality Homes - Summerfield, Kan.

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."