Dixon: A Brief History

The history of Dixon starts in another location: Silveyville, a stage coach stop on the road from Vacaville to Sacramento about two miles east of where Dixon is now located. Silveyville had grown to a prosperous village of 150 by the mid-1860’s.

When the California Pacific Railroad identified the path of its new line, the chosen route lay two miles east of Silveyville. A prosperous farmer, Thomas Dickson, donated ten acres for a station and a town site. And so Dixon was established in 1868 – due to a misspelled station sign, Dickson had become Dixon. Mr. Dickson good-heartedly agreed to let the name stand as is.

Silveyville residents quickly realized that the railroad was the key to economic growth, and they decided to move their town – all of it! – to the new site of Dixon. They literally rolled their homes and businesses on log rollers into Dixon where some still remain today. The historic Methodist Church could not be moved across the tracks – some say the mules absolutely refused! – and it ended up west of the tracks where it sits today. Even the cemetery at Silveyville was relocated to Dixon.

Dixon prospered as an agricultural town and a shipping point, known for raising sheep, and (once irrigation water became available) for row crops such as alfalfa, sugar beets and tomatoes. In the 1920’s, Dixon was known as “the Dairy City” with over 80 dairies in existence. Merchants located in Dixon to provide goods and services, and Dixon had its own newspaper. It established the first public library in Solano County in 1911. And the May Fair (the oldest continuous fair in California) came into existence in 1876.

Today’s diverse population of almost 19,000 residents enjoys the “small town” atmosphere that Dixon retains.