Old Dorchester

Laid out in 1697 as a market town for the Congregationalist colony from Dorchester, Mass., the village contained 116 quarter-acre lots and a town square and commons. An Anglican church was built in 1720, a fair was established in 1723, and a Free School in 1734. Dorchester became a trade center and by 1781 had about 40 houses. The town gradually declined after the Revolution. By 1788 it was abandoned.