RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Dorset ...

Dorset is located in Powhatan County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Dorset, you might consider that their post office opened in 1881.

Dorset is 310 feet [94 m] above sea level.<2>.

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

Area Codes for Dorset: 804 & 686<3>

Communities Also Named Dorset ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 7 communities that are also named Dorset - they are located in Florida, Minnesota, Ohio, Ontario (2), Pennsylvania and Vermont.

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

Communities near Dorset ...

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

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 Dorset. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Dorset.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Dorset. 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 Dorset.

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Dorset ...

Looking for more information about Dorset? 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 Dorset, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Dorset.

Adding Dorset to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Dorset 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 (so far) for Dorset was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Dorset post office opened in 1881. The Dorset post office closed in 1908.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Dorset.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Virginia's counties, including Powhatan, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Dorset - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 804 code has been Overlayed with the 686 area code. New phone numbers in the Dorset area will be assigned with one of these codes: 804 or 686. As a result, placing a call in the Dorset area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

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