Dixon, Illinois

Dixon is a city in Lee County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 15,274 as of the 2020 census. The city is named after founder John Dixon, who operated a rope ferry service across the Rock River, which runs through the city. The city is also the site of the Dixon Bridge Disaster of 1873, the worst road bridge disaster in American history. A marker for the disaster stands near the Lincoln Statue, on the north bank of the river.

History

Around 1828, Joseph Ogee, a man of mixed French and Native American descent, established a ferry and a cabin along the banks of the Rock River. In 1829, an employee of Ogee was named postmaster at the newly constructed post office. John Dixon, the eponymous founder, bought Ogee's Ferry in the spring of 1830 and brought his family to his newly purchased establishment on April 11 of that year. Shortly after, the name of the post office was changed to Dixon's Ferry.

On May 4, 1873, the Truesdell Bridge collapsed resulting in the deaths of 46 people. About 150-200 people were on the bridge in order to watch a baptism ceremony in the river below.

thumb|left|Map of Dixon in 1919

Running by Interstate 88 is a road named Bloody Gulch Road. The road is named after a murder and body disposal. On September 12, 1885, two young men walked along a county road south of Dixon, one a farm hand named Joseph M. Mosse and the other, Frank C. Thiel, a traveling salesman from Elgin, IL. The unemployed farmhand told the salesman of a place he could sell his Bibles and proceeded to take him to a farm where he had worked. As the two men passed a gulch the farmhand struck and killed the salesman with a knife and a walnut baluster he was seen carrying under his arm. He then buried the body in the culvert. The body was later discovered when cattle refused to use the underpass en route to a milking barn. An overnight rain had washed away some of the dirt exposing a limb. When the sheriff arrived to question the farm hand, since he was seen leaving Dixon with the deceased, he pretended to get a drink while throwing a watch chain taken from the salesman in the bushes. The evidence was found and the farmhand was eventually put in jail for life, while the road over the underpass began to be called Bloody Gulch Road.

In April 2012, Dixon Municipal Comptroller Rita Crundwell was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury for embezzlement. She used the embezzled funds to pay for her lavish lifestyle and what became one of the nation's best-known quarter horse-breeding programs, among other things. Crundwell's crimes, thought to be the most substantial municipal theft in U.S. history, impacted Dixon's finances severely. Federal prosecutors estimated the amount embezzled at $53 million since 1990. The city sued the auditors who had failed to detect the embezzlement and the bank at which Crundwell maintained a secret account, and received $40 million in settlements. In February 2013, Crundwell was sentenced to almost 20 years in prison.

On May 16, 2018, Matthew Milby, a 19-year-old student, entered Dixon High School and fired shots during graduation practice. He was pursued by School Resource Officer Mark Dallas, of the Dixon Police Department. After firing shots at the officer, the shooter was wounded by Dallas as he returned fire. Milby was then taken into custody. There were no additional injuries. Milby was diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder and initially found unfit to stand trial. On July 14, 2022, he pleaded guilty to aggravated discharge of a firearm towards a peace officer and aggravated discharge of a firearm in a school building; he was sentenced to thirty years in prison.

Ronald Reagan

Dixon was the childhood home of the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in nearby Tampico and moved to Dixon, aged nine. In his teen years, he lifeguarded along the banks of the Rock River. His family house is preserved at 816 South Hennepin Avenue, and authorized by Congress to become the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home. On February 6, 1984, during his first term as president, Reagan returned to Dixon to celebrate his 73rd birthday. He toured his boyhood residence and the city held a parade in his honor.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Dixon has a total area of , of which (or 94.93%) is land and (or 5.07%) is water.

Climate

Dixon has a hot summer humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfa) with four seasons. The winters are generally cold and see frequent snowfall, while the summers are warm and humid. Typically Dixon ranges from a low of 10 °F (-12 °C) to a high of 82 °F (28 °C). A low of -32 °F (-35 °C) was recorded during the January–February 2019 North American cold wave, and a record high of 110 °F (43 °C) was recorded during the 1936 North American heat wave. Average monthly precipitation ranges from in February to in June.

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Dixon city, Illinois – Racial and ethnic composition

!Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 2010

!Pop 2020

!% 2010

!% 2020

|White alone (NH)

|12,698

|11,442

|80.71%

|74.91%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|1,583

|1,698

|10.06%

|11.12%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|25

|13

|0.16%

|0.09%

|Asian alone (NH)

|152

|134

|0.97%

|0.88%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|0.01%

|0.02%

|Other race alone (NH)

|17

|44

|0.11%

|0.29%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|205

|566

|1.30%

|3.71%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|1,051

|1,374

|6.68%

|9.00%

|Total

|15,733

|15,274

|100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Dixon had a population of 15,274. The median age was 40.5 years. 19.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 126.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 133.0 males age 18 and over. There were 2,891 families residing in the city, and the population density was .

98.7% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.3% lived in rural areas.

There were 5,781 households in Dixon, of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 35.4% were married-couple households, 22.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 32.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 37.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The parade features a multitude of floats from surrounding businesses, politicians, and other area groups. A carnival is also held in Dixon during this time, and the festival ends with the Fourth of July fireworks. The Downtown district has become a National Historic District. The Rock River which runs through the center of Dixon has been designated a National Waterway by the Federal Government. Dixon residents have supported a variety of large-scale projects that have created several aspects to their rural community. One aspect of this small town is that an individual can kayak the Rock River to the city's downtown docks and join a public Yoga session on the riverfront.

The Petunia Festival was conceived after Dutch Elm Disease and highway expansion wiped out the trees along the major roads in the late 1950s. In response to the dramatic change the streetscape underwent, the Dixon Men's Garden Club planted petunias along Galena Avenue to regain some sort of streetscape identity once again in the early 1960s. Before this annual festival, volunteers plant thousands of pink petunias along the main streets. The flowers are watered and maintained by the combined efforts of city workers and volunteers.

An iconic arch along Galena Avenue, just south of the Rock River, features the word "Dixon" in neon glasswork. Though commonly referred to as the Dixon Arch, the proper name for the structure is the War Memorial Arch. The Northwest Territory Historic Center is a History Research and Learning Center housed in President Ronald Reagan's boyhood South Central School. Restored with the dedicated support of the townspeople and Reagan colleagues, the center is proudly affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution.

The Center houses the Veterans History Project Regional Center, auditorium, research library, historical exhibits, art gallery, surround-sound theater, and museum store.

Parks and recreation

The Dixon Park District owns more than of land including two historic parks platted in 1842. The parks range from Lowell Park's which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; rural Meadows Park which encompasses of recreational opportunities with natural areas and farm land; to neighborhood parks located throughout the city. Lee County, of which Dixon is the County Seat, offers many recreational areas and campgrounds; over 7,000 campsites are located within 17 miles (27 km) of the city. Tourists from nearby Chicago take advantage of Lee County's recreational opportunities, particularly during summer weekends, adding approximately 20,000 people to the area's population.

Infrastructure

Healthcare

Dixon is a regional center for healthcare. The community has OSF Saint Katharine Medical Center, is a medical student-teaching facility, four adult clinics, a children's clinic, two dialysis centers, two urgent-care clinics, Sinnissippi Mental Health Center and the Northern Illinois Cancer Center. There is also a hospital, an infirmary and a clinic for the mentally ill at the Dixon Correctional Center. The Mabley State Mental Health complex is also located in Dixon.

Transportation

Dixon is served by the UP main line between Chicago and Omaha.

Education

The school district is Dixon Unit School District 170. The district's high school is Dixon High School.

Sauk Valley Community College is the area community college.

Airport

Dixon is served by the Charles R. Walgreen Field, a general aviation-only airport.

Notable people

thumb|right|150px|Ronald Reagan in Dixon, 1922

Noah Brooks: journalist and biographer of Abraham Lincoln
William Conger: painter and educator
Hubert D. Considine: Illinois state representative and businessman
Rita Crundwell: Dixon comptroller and embezzler
John Dement: 19th century politician and military commander
John Deere: industrialist, invented steel plow
John Devine: professional bicycle racer
John P. Devine: Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives
Sherwood Dixon: politician, 36th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
James K. Edsall: politician, Illinois Attorney General
Samuel Cook Edsall: Episcopal Bishop of Minnesota
Daniel G. Garnsey: United States Congressman
Harriet E. Garrison (1848–1930), physician, writer
Charna Halpern: Comedian and co-founder of iO Theater with Del Close
Jerry Hey: five-time Grammy winner
David Klamen: artist and academic
Jeanie Linders: writer and producer of Menopause: The Musical
William H. McMaster: South Dakota politician, later banker in Dixon
Ward T. Miller: professional baseball player for various teams
Julia Swift Orvis, history professor at Wellesley College
George Ham Page: co-founder of the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company
Louella Parsons newspaper columnist; grew up in Dixon
Ronald Reagan: 40th president of the United States; grew up in Dixon
Rondi Reed: Tony Award-winning actress and singer
Isaiah Roby: NBA Oklahoma City Thunder
Fred E. Sterling: politician
Charles Rudolph Walgreen: founder of drugstore chain
Minnie Gow Walsworth, poet
Larry Young: MLB umpire

Sister cities

Dixon has four sister cities.

Dikson, Russia
Herzberg, Germany
Castlebar, Ireland
Thika, Kenya

References

External links

Dixon Chamber of Commerce