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History · Dorchester

Dorchester’s post office opened in 1874, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: the census since 1880.

1874first post office
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Dorchester began

When was Dorchester founded?

1874

The Dorchester post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 244 in 18802020 census: 849152 years
Founding year: the first Dorchester post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Dorchester’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Dorchester are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dorchester’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dorchester’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Dorchester, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Dorchester yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Dorchester is a village in Clark and Marathon counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, along the 45th parallel. It is part of the Wausau, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 849 at the 2020 census. Of this, 846 were in Clark County, and only 3 were in Marathon County.

Its first post office opened in 1874. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 876 to 849 (-3%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Dorchester, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Dorchester Village Hall2025Dorchester Village HallDorchester Wisconsin Looking West County A2012Dorchester Wisconsin Looking West County ADorchester Wisconsin Downtown Looking South WIS132012Dorchester Wisconsin Downtown Looking South WIS13Dorchester Tower2012Dorchester Tower
People over time

Dorchester, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 876

Between 244 and 876 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dorchester’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

MayvilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHoltonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Dorchester’s history

What year was Dorchester founded?

The Dorchester post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.