The community of Dorchester was founded on the railroad during the early years of the twentieth century, and two one-room country schools were established to educate the children of families who moved to the area. About 1907, these schools were consolidated to create the Dorchester School. Between 1913 and 1915, a two-story brick schoolhouse was built at this site, and its auditorium also served for community gatherings. Under U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's WPA program, a new school building was constructed in 1940, and its gymnasium functioned as an athletic facility, auditorium, and social center, with the Halloween carnival as an annual highlight. The high school closed in 1949, but the school continued teaching elementary students until it consolidated with the Howe School District in 1959. For more than 50 years, the Dorchester School played a central and vital role in the town, and some graduates returned as educators while many remained in Dorchester as community leaders.