A history of Dixon,
since 1828
Postcards, papers and photographs of Dixon from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗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.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Dixon’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewJohn Dement 1887 engraving, 1887: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Dixon, decade by decade
1990s
5 historic places in Dixon
Dixon has 5 listings on the National Register, and they protect 105 historic buildings, because Dixon Downtown Historic District alone counts 102.
Where they are
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as John Dement 1887 engraving (1887) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (4) and the Library of Congress (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.