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Dixon California is located in Solano County 23 miles from the capital city:
Sacramento. Dixon recently made the Guinness Book of World Records by hosting
the World's Largest Corn Maze in 2007. This "amazing" maze covered
40 acres at Cool Patch
Pumpkins and included a phone line for visitors to use should they become
lost in the miles of twists and turns.
Corn Maze in 2007
Stats
- Latitude of Dixon is 38.445N. The longitude is -121.822W.
- Pacific Standard time zone.
- Elevation: 62 feet.
- The estimated population, in 2003, was 16,210.
A Brief History
Dixon did not start out as "Dixon." The first name given to the area
by white settlers was "Silveyville," named after Elijah S. Silvey
who first settled in the area in 1852. Silveyville started looking a bit like
a town when the California Pacific Railroad reached it on 28 August 1868. At
that time a prosperous rancher, Thomas Dickson, donated 10 acres of land near
the California Pacific Railroad line for a town site and train station. The
depot was then named Dickson Station which was changed to "Dixon"
after the first consignment of goods arrived by rail with a misspelled address.
After a two year battle against the misspelling, the County Recorder finally
filed "Dixon" for the new maps because it was "simpler".
The name stuck.
Dixon was incorporated in 1878 and is the town hub for miles of grain alfalfa
and dairy farming. Dixon has also had a long history in the sheep industry and
still hosts an annual sheep festival: Lamb Town. Dixon is also the home of the
May Fair, the oldest state affiliated fair in California.
Elijah S. Silvey
It was the lure of gold that first attracted Elijah S. Silvey to his California
homestead, but he quickly realized that more money could be made (with less
labor) by opening a saloon. Silvey's “half-way house” location was
along the well-traveled stage coach route to the gold fields of Sacramento.
By the time the railroad came, Silveyville had a general store, post office,
a blacksmith and had a population of 150 people.
California Pacific Railroad
When the railroad came into the valley it bypassed Silveyville (much to the
chagrin of her residents), and crossed the local minister's land: Thomas Dickson.
The residents managed to come together to create Downtown Dixon, and moved Silveyville's
buildings to the new location on large flat cars and steel rails. One of the
buildings that still stands in Dixon from the 1871 move is the Dixon Methodist
Church located at 209 N. Jefferson Street.
The Town Grows
Dixon's first bank was The Bank of Dixon, established in 1874. The Dixon Tribune
newspaper began it's publications that same year. By 1877 the town had seven
hotels and eight saloons. The community had grow to 1,200 people. Dixon California
set up a local government on March 30, 1878.
A few years later, on November 19, 1883 the town was engulfed in a tremendous
fire, which apparently started in the kitchen of the Centennial Hotel (current
location of the Moose Lodge) The fire was fanned by huge gusts of wind up to
60 miles per hour. Six churches and many local residences and businesses were
destroyed in the matter of a few hours. After this the city set up ordnances
for buildings to be made of brick and/or tin.
in 1885 a group of gentlemen started the Dixon Driving Park Association and
constructed a horse racing track and pavilion. In 1886 this was the location
of the first Dixon May Day celebration which continues to this day. The celebration
is usually a two-day event held on the first day of May.The Dixon Chamber of
Commerce organized in 1909, and at that time encouraged the May Day celebration
to be held on the weekend closest to the First of May.
On April 22, 1892 a major earthquake hit the Dixon area damaging many of the
newly built brick buildings in the downtown area. Again fires broke out, but
the well organized fire department was able to put the fires down with the help
of their newly installed fire hydrants.
Sheep and Cows
Before Dixon's current fame as "Lamb Town" the town was known as
"The Dairy City.” In the early 1900's the Worlds Largest Certified
Dairy was operating in the Dixon area with over 300 cows. This modern operation
was enhanced by new innovations in dairy farming such as hydraulic pumps. By
1920 the area had over thirty dairy farmers taking advantage of the temperate
climate and abundant hay fields.
Dixon From The Air
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