Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1890 on and the census since 1880.
The Dixon post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dixon’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dixon. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Dixon.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Dixon yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Dixon is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. The population was 202 at the time of the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1852. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 247 to 202 (-18%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Dixon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
of Long creek, and in this school-house Mary Parker, who afterward became Mrs. Walraven, taught the first school. Rev. Mr. Chenowith was the first minister to preach a sermon in the Township. The village of Dixon was platted in 1854 by Jonathan Parker for R. S. Dickinson. The village of Big Rock was laid out by Peter Goddard in 1855. Blue Grass Township was settled in 1839 by Rufus L. Catlin; Charles and George Metteer settled in the Township the same year, and Joseph Wallace, Robert and Peter Wilson, Samuel and Francis
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
buy a place of one hundred and sixty acres in Liberty township. There he lived until he married, when he and his brother Henry assumed full charge of the homestead, the other brothers having gone to Pike's Peak. In 1897 Mr. Quistorf decided to retirie from active life and came to the village of Dixon, which
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
with his parents to Aliens Grove township twenty-six days before Iowa was admitted to statehood. On the last day of November, 1846, after dark, the family crossed the Mississippi river, on the old horse ferry that was then in use, and located one mile east of where the town of Dixon now stands. There was little at that time, however, to indicate the future growth of this section of the state, but the father believed that he was not making a mistake in locating here. Years have proved the correctness of his choice, both in the case of his own achievements and those of his son, C. B. Snyder.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
out among the closely packed troops and raged with great virulence) many dying with it. The decimated force landed near Chicago and wintered there, thence moving down as far as the present city of Dixon, in the spring of 1832. Gen. Atkinson, then in command, sent their baggage down Rock River in boats under charge of his Rangers, and landed it at Big Island, near the present village of Milan, where it was left subject to the purification of the elements.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.
1913Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Peaked at 312 in 1980; 202 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dixon’s Wikipedia page.
Dixon’s post office has been open since 1852.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Dixon post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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