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The Commemorative Quarter for Illinois





Welcome to Dorchester ...

The village of Dorchester is located in Macoupin County<1>.


The location of Dorchester has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>


The pronunciation of Dorchester: DOR-ches-ter<3>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Dorchester, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1860.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Dorchester has a population of 138 people<4> (see below for details).

Dorchester is 650 feet [198 m] above sea level.<5>.

Time Zone: Dorchester lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Dorchester had an population of 138 people. This is a decrease of 8.61% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 2.82% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Dorchester had a population of 151 people. This makes Dorchester the county's 25th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 151 people, the population of Dorchester increased 6.34% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 142 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Dorchester.

Communities Also Named Dorchester ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 20 communities that are also named Dorchester - they are located in Colorado, Florida, Georgia (2), Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ontario, South Carolina (2), Texas, Virginia (2) and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Dorchester.

Communities near Dorchester ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Dorchester.

  • Edwardsville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Godfrey
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Godfrey have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Godfrey
    • Godfrey is located in Madison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,393 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Godfrey <6>
  • Wood River
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wood River have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood River
    • Wood River is located in Madison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,002 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wood River <6>
  • Bethalto
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Litchfield
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • East Alton
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Alton
    • East Alton is located in Madison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,922 people
  • Carlinville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Staunton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Gillespie
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Brighton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Dorchester. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Dorchester.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Dorchester. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Dorchester.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Dorchester. See our Newspapers Page for Dorchester.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Dorchester ...

Looking for more information about Dorchester? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Dorchester, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Dorchester.

Adding Dorchester to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Dorchester in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Dorchester was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Dorchester post office opened in 1860.

We also found Dorchester in the book titled List of Post Offices in the United States (1870).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Dorchester.

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Dorchester. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including Macoupin, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Dorchester. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
<4>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Dorchester.
<5>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Dorchester - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024