Dixon is a city in
Lee County, Illinois
Lee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 34,145. Its county seat is Dixon. The Dixon, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Lee County.
History
The area's ...
, United States, and its
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 ...
.
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 Illinois General Assembly designated Dixon as "Petunia Capital of Illinois" in 1999 and "The Catfish Capital of Illinois" in 2009.
Dixon was the boyhood home of former U.S. President
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
. The city is also the site of the
Lincoln Monument State Memorial, marking the spot where
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
joined the Illinois militia at
Fort Dixon in 1832 during the
Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans led by Black Hawk (Sauk leader), Black Hawk, a Sauk people, Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of ...
. The memorial is located on the west side of Dixon's main north–south street, Galena Avenue (
U.S. Route 52
U.S. Route 52 (US 52) is a major U.S. Highway in the Central United States that extends from the northern to southeastern region of the United States. Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S. Highways, US 52 primarily follows a north ...
, also Illinois Route 26), north of the Rock River. 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.

Running by
Interstate 88 is a road named Bloody Gulch Road. The road is named after a
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
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
Bible
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
s and proceeded to take him to a farm where he had worked. As the two men passed a
gulch
A gulch is a deep V-shaped valley formed by erosion. It may contain a small stream or dry creek bed and is usually larger in size than a gully. Sudden intense rainfall upstream may produce flash floods in the bed of the gulch.
In eastern Can ...
the farmhand struck and killed the salesman with a knife and a
walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...
baluster
A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...
he was seen carrying under his arm. He then buried the body in the
culvert
A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...
. The body was later discovered when
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
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
The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of or less; some have been clocked at speeds up to . ...
-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
Schizotypal personality disorder (StPD or SPD), also known as schizotypal disorder, is a cluster A personality disorder, cluster A personality disorder characterized by thought disorder, paranoia, a characteristic form of social anxiety, dereali ...
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
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
, Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
. Reagan was born in nearby Tampico
Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fif ...
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 2010 census, Dixon has a total area of , of which (or 94.51%) is land and (or 5.49%) 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
The 1936 North American heat wave was one of the most severe heat waves in the modern history of North America. It took place in the middle of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl of the 1930s and caused more than 5,000 deaths. Many state and cit ...
. Average monthly precipitation ranges from in February to in June.
Demographics
2020 census
2000 census
As of the census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, 15,941 people, 5,681 households, and 3,488 families resided in the city. The population density was . The city consisted of 6,138 housing units at an average density of . The city's racial makeup included 86.33% 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 ...
, 10.48% 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 ...
, 0.14% Native American, 0.82% Asian, 0.05% 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 ...
, 1.10% from other races, and 1.09% 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 comprised 4.30% of the population.
There were 5,681 households, out of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.7% were married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.6% were non-families. 32.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 20.9% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 34.6% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,720, and the median income for a family was $45,088. Males had a median income of $32,511 versus $21,777 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 city was $16,630. About 5.7% of families and 10.1% 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 10.7% of those under age 18 and 12.0% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
Dixon is a regional employment hub and is part of two fast growing distribution and warehousing and food processing districts: one is I-88 West and the other, the I-39 Logistics Corridor. The biggest industries are healthcare and government. Healthcare employs over 1,700, while government jobs approach 1,500. The Dixon Correctional Center employs over 600 workers, as does the Department of Transportation. KSB Hospital has nearly 1,000 employees. Dixon has many industries employing thousands of the region's residents. The largest are Raynor Garage Doors, Donaldson Inc., Borg Warner, and Spectrum Brands. Fifteen miles away in Ashton, Crest Foods employs over 600.
Arts and culture
The city of Dixon has numerous art venues including: a downtown art gallery, 2 galleries held in museums, and several private business galleries. Dixon also has a performing arts theater called Dixon Stage Left, and a musician and visual arts co-op called Rosbrook Studio. The city has numerous festivals throughout the year including: Gardenstock Arts & Music Fest, Venitian Night on the Riverfront, a downtown wine festival, Blues-Brews-and BBQ, Reagan Trail Days, and the fall Scarecrow Festival.
Every summer Dixon holds the annual Petunia Festival featuring a parade, carnival (Farrow shows), country concert, fireworks show, and a 5K race—the Reagan Run. 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
Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing th ...
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
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
; 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
Health care
Dixon is a regional center for healthcare. The community has KSB Hospital which is a medical student teaching facility, 4 adult clinics, a children's clinic, 2 dialysis centers, 2 urgent care clinics, and is home to 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.
Education
The school district is Dixon Unit School District 170.[ ]
Text list
/ref> The district's high school is Dixon High School.
Sauk Valley Community College is the area community college.
Airport
Dixon is served by the Dixon Municipal, Charles R Walgreen Field Airport, a general aviation only airport.
Notable people
* Noah Brooks: journalist and biographier of Abraham Lincoln
* William Conger: painter and educator
* Hubert D. Considine: Illinois state representative and businessman.
* Rita Crundwell: breeder of quarterhorses; embezzled approximately $53 million while Dixon comptroller in what is believed to be the largest municipal fraud in American history.
* John Dement: 19th century politician and military commander.
* John Deere
Deere & Company, Trade name, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, Transmission (mechanical device), transmi ...
: industrialist, manufacturer, invented first commercially successful steel plow; born in Vermont, lived in Grand Detour.
* 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
* Jerry Hey
Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', '' Rock with Y ...
: five-time Grammy winner.
* David Klamen: artist and academic
* Jeanie Linders: writer and producer of ''Menopause: The Musical.''
* William H. McMaster: South Dakota state representative, state senator, lieutenant governor, governor, US senator, later banker in Dixon.
* Ward T. Miller: professional baseball player in early 1900s for Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Terriers (FL) and St. Louis Browns.
* Julia Swift Orvis, history professor at Wellesley College
Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...
* George Ham Page: industrialist and co-founder of the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company, a predecessor of Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...
, primarily resided in Cham, Switzerland
Cham is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zug (canton), Zug in Switzerland.
Location
Cham is located on the northern shore of Lake Zug, northwest of the cantonal capital of Zug. Surrounding ...
during his life
* Louella Parsons
Louella Rose Oettinger, (August 6, 1881 – December 9, 1972) known by the pen name Louella Parsons, was an American gossip columnist and a screenwriter. At her peak, her columns were read by 20 million people in 700 newspapers worldwide.
She ...
(born Louella Rose Oettinger): influential newspaper columnist; born in Freeport and grew up in Dixon.
* Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
: 40th President of the United States, 33rd Governor of California, noted actor; born in Tampico
Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fif ...
and 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
Charles Rudolph Walgreen (October 9, 1873 – December 11, 1939) was an American businessman and the founder of Walgreens.
Background
Walgreen was born on a farm near Galesburg, Illinois before moving to Dixon, Illinois, in 1887. He was the so ...
: founder of drugstore chain; he grew up in Dixon and began his career there as a pharmacist.
* Minnie Gow Walsworth, poet
* Larry Young: MLB umpire.
Sister cities
Dixon has four sister cities.
* Dikson, Russia
* Herzberg, Germany
* Castlebar
Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Ireland. Developing around a 13th-century castle of the de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal point for the surrounding hinterland. Wi ...
, Ireland
* Thika
Thika () is an industrial town and commerce hub in Kiambu County, Kenya, lying on the A2 road , northeast of Nairobi, near the confluence of the Thika and Chania Rivers. Although Thika town is administratively in Kiambu County, the greater ...
, Kenya
See also
* Illinois Central Stone Arch Railroad Bridges
* Nachusa House
* William H. Van Epps House
* Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated Octob ...
* Ronald Reagan Trail
* Nachusa Grasslands
References
External links
*
Dixon Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control
Cities in Illinois
Cities in Lee County, Illinois
County seats in Illinois
Micropolitan areas of Illinois
Populated places established in 1828
Ronald Reagan Trail
1828 establishments in Illinois