In the 1950’s, Dorchester’s own Rosa Dusanek had a dream of building a Saline County museum to house the history of our area’s people. By 1957, the Saline County Historical Society was established. In 1960, the Saline County commissioners gave the society a one-tenth mill levy.
- The museum’s first building — the teal colored structure you see from Hwy. 33 — was built in 1964. Today, there are eleven buildings.
- The Chapel contains “In Loving Memory” funeral displays, an altar and wedding dresses and suits. A nearby memorial pays tribute to Dorchester’s Charlie Havlat, the last American killed in WWII’s European Theater.
- The Memorial Building has an 1800’s bedroom, a parlor and a kitchen. There is a textile room, dentist office, doctor’s office and a beauty shop.
- There is a section for all organizations of Saline County. The Museum will take organizational minutes and scrapbooks from disbanded organizations.
- The Weidner Building which houses the fire truck, wagons, photography, and electrical displays.
- The Machinery Building has implements from the past centuries. The Voting Building is original. This building was only used for voting.
- The Buckingham School is a one room country school from 1871. It is a building where present day children can go to school to see how their great grandparents were educated.
- The Burden Home belonged to the first black homesteader in Saline County. Seven children were born and raised in this two room home, dated 1868.
- The Cizek log cabin, dated 1866, is in a building, along with a large collection of barbed wire.
- The Dorchester Depot Building houses fascinating railroad memorabilia.
- The Plato Post Office building is a traveling post office — a tiny building that moved from farm to farm.
The Saline County Museum is operated strictly by volunteers. The Saline County Historical Society Board consists of ten individuals that meet quarterly. There is no admission fee, although donations are welcome. The Saline County Museum is open Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons from 1-4 p.m. The museum volunteers are constantly working on new displays. If you haven’t been to the museum recently, you need to stop by and see the many changes!
For more information, contact the Saline County Historical Society at 402-946-2129.
