Dix is a village in Jefferson County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The population was 469 at the 2020 census. It is part of the

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Dix is located in northern Jefferson County at (38.440676, -88.942463).

Illinois Route 37 Illinois Route 37, Illinois 37 or IL 37, is a north–south state highway in southern Illinois. IL 37's southern terminus is at U.S. Route 51 (US 51) and IL 3 in Cairo and the northern terminus is at US 45 in Watson. Rou ...

is the village's Main Street, leading south to

, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, and north to Salem.

Interstate 57 Interstate 57 (I-57) is a north–south Interstate Highway that exists in two segments. It runs through Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois. I-57 parallels the old Illinois Central Railroad for much of its route north of Interstate 55, I-55. T ...

passes through the western side of the village, with access from Exit 103. I-57 leads south to

Interstate 64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at Interstate 70, I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and U.S. Route 61, US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern ter ...

at Mount Vernon and north to

Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15, I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to Interstate 695 (Maryland), I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, Baltimo ...

at Effingham. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Dix has a total area of , of which (or 99.52%) is land and (or 0.48%) is water. Dix is located on high ground that marks the boundary between the

Big Muddy River The Big Muddy River is a river in southern Illinois. It joins the Mississippi River just south of Grand Tower. The Big Muddy has been dammed near Benton, forming Rend Lake. The Big Muddy has a mud bottom for most of its length. Hydrography ...

and its tributary, Casey Creek. Today Dix is an exit on Interstate 57, a major north–south roadway. When it was founded, however, it was on the Goshen Road, which was the main east–west road in Illinois, running from Old Shawneetown on the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

to near East St. Louis on the

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

History

Among the first settlers around Dix were two brothers named Andrews (Arba and Nelson?), who came from

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area, which lie ...

, around 1830. One of them established a post office called "Jordan's Prairie", the name already given to the grassland to the south. Later he platted out a village, which he called "Rome", after his home town in New York. The post office was moved into the village in 1852, and the name changed. Hiram Milburn of Kell, Illinois, moved to Rome between 1853 and 1855. Milburn built a storehouse in 1853 and a hotel in 1854. It is said that during the construction of the hotel, a wind blew the structure down into a pile, while two men were on the joists, but nobody was hurt. In 1855 Milburn purchased Leuty's Mill and moved it to Rome. Although Rome Township still exists, the name of the post office was changed to "Dix" in 1865.Adams, James N. (1989). Illinois Place Names. Springfield, IL: Illinois State Historical Society. There was and still is another Rome, Illinois, and the Postal Service insisted that the name of this village be changed. The community incorporated as the village of Rome in 1873. The name of the village was not legally changed to Dix until the 1960s. There are several stories as to the origin of the name "Dix". One is that the town was renamed in honor of General

John Adams Dix John Adams Dix (July 24, 1798 – April 21, 1879) was an American politician and military officer who was Secretary of the Treasury, Governor of New York and Union major general during the Civil War. He was notable for arresting the pro-Southe ...

. At the outbreak of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, General Dix sent a telegram to his agents in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

stating: "If any man pulls down the American flag, shoot him on the spot." Although the telegram was intercepted by

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

agents and never reached its intended recipient, the text reached the press, and General Dix became one of the first heroes in the North. Dix is served by the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

. This was built around 1890. The rail line comes from the St. Louis area and turns southeast at Dix. It follows the west side of Casey Creek down to Mt. Vernon.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 469 people, 254 households, and 114 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 258 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 90.62%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.85%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.21% Native American, 1.92% Asian, 0.00%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.00% from other races, and 6.40% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.56% of the population. There were 254 households, out of which 24.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 20.87% were married couples living together, 13.78% had a female householder with no husband present, and 55.12% were non-families. 51.57% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.14% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.17 and the average family size was 2.10. The village's age distribution consisted of 20.6% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 22.8% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 139.5 males. The median income for a household in the village was $30,000, and the median income for a family was $75,000. Males had a median income of $40,250 versus $36,250 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $22,881. About 5.3% of families and 21.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 17.9% of those under age 18 and 25.0% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* George Corbett, running back for

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

1932–38 * Chuck Riley, Oregon State Senator, Senate District 15 *

Keith Stroup Keith Stroup is an American attorney and founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Biography After graduating from the University of Illinois in 1965, he enrolled in Georgetown Law School and worked in the office of I ...

, activist, founder of

NORML The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML ) is a social welfare organization based in Washington, D.C., that advocates for the reform of marijuana laws in the United States regarding both medical and non-medical use. Ac ...

References

External links

Founding of Dix
{{authority control Villages in Jefferson County, Illinois Mount Vernon, Illinois micropolitan area Populated places established in 1869 1869 establishments in Illinois Villages in Illinois