Welcome to Dorchester ...

Dorchester is located in Suffolk County<1>.

Dorchester is 110 feet [34 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Dorchester lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Dorchester was settled in 1630.

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), Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, 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.

• Boston
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston
  • Boston lies 4 miles [6.4 km]<3> to the north of Dorchester.
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 691,531 people
  • Jump to Google Maps centered on Boston
• Cambridge
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge
  • Cambridge lies 5 miles [8 km]<3> to the northwest of Dorchester.
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 119,192 people
  • Jump to Google Maps centered on Cambridge
• Brockton
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brockton
  • Brockton lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<3> to the south of Dorchester.
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 95,770 people
  • Jump to Google Maps centered on Brockton
• Lynn
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn
  • Lynn lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<3> to the northeast of Dorchester.
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 94,539 people
  • Jump to Google Maps centered on Lynn
• Quincy
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
  • Quincy lies 4 miles [6.4 km]<3> to the southeast of Dorchester.
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 94,421 people
  • Jump to Google Maps centered on Quincy
• Newton
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton
  • Newton lies 7 miles [11.3 km]<3> to the west of Dorchester.
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 87,803 people
  • Jump to Google Maps centered on Newton
• Somerville
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
  • Somerville lies 6 miles [9.7 km]<3> to the north of Dorchester.
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 80,935 people
  • Jump to Google Maps centered on Somerville
• Framingham
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Framingham
  • Framingham lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<3> to the west of Dorchester.
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 73,892 people
  • Jump to Google Maps centered on Framingham
• Waltham
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waltham
  • Waltham lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<3> to the northwest of Dorchester.
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 62,069 people
  • Jump to Google Maps centered on Waltham
• Medford
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medford
  • Medford lies 8 miles [12.9 km]<3> to the north of Dorchester.
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 60,847 people
  • Jump to Google Maps centered on Medford

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.<4>

From that list, the Dorchester post office opened in 1826.

We also found Dorchester in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Dorchester.

Off-the-Road Links ...

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 Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/