Dixons Mills is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Marengo County Marengo County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,323. The largest city is Demopolis, and the county seat is Linden. It is named in honor of the Battle of ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, United States. The community was named for a group of mills operated by Joel B. Dixon in the 19th century.Marengo County Heritage Book Committee: ''The Heritage of Marengo County, Alabama'', pages 177-178. Clanton, Alabama: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000. Dixons Mills has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

utilizing the 36736 ZIP code.

Demographics

Dixon Mills appeared on the 1870 U.S. Census, having 120 residents. Of that 120, 80 were black and 40 were white.http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1870a-05.pdf This was the only time the community appeared on census rolls.

History

Beginning in the late 1820s, Joel B. Dixon, Sr. operated a water-powered

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

at a dam that he and his sons built on Mill Creek along the old Linden-to-

Choctaw Corner The Choctaw Corner is a former Native American boundary location near the modern border between Clarke and Marengo counties in Alabama, United States. It was established as the northernmost terminus for a mutually agreed upon boundary line betwe ...

Road. The modern

U.S. Route 43 U.S. Route 43 (US 43) is a north–south United States Highway in the Southern United States, Southern states of Alabama and Tennessee. It travels from Prichard, Alabama, to Columbia, Tennessee. The highway's southern terminus is in Pr ...

bridge over Mill Creek now stands at the location. Dixon (January 11, 1777 – December 23, 1861), a native of

Edgecombe County, North Carolina Edgecombe County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,900. Its county seat is Tarboro. Edgecombe County is part of the Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area. ...

, was one of the early settlers of Marengo County. His business grew and eventually included a

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

-driven

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

and two steam-powered

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

s. The mills remained in use into the first years of the 20th century. They were still standing in 1923, when they were demolished during the construction of Route 43.

Geography

Dixons Mills is located at and has an elevation of .

School

Dixons Mills' only school is Marengo High School. It is part of the Marengo County School District.

References

Unincorporated communities in Alabama Unincorporated communities in Marengo County, Alabama{{Short description, Unincorporated community in Alabama, United States