Dixon Township dates to 1828, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940
7 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 12 buildings. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1918 on, and the census since 1840.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
On the map
Dixon Township on the map, 1918 to 1983
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dixon Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1918Dixon sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Dixon Township.
Timeline
Dixon Township, 1828 to 1941
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1828, according to Wikidata. Dixon Township’s post office opened in 1842, and the census of 1840 counted 725 people here.
What is on the National Register in Dixon Township?
7 listings: 1 building, among them the Christopher Brookner House (listed 1984, the first), and 1 historic district, the Lowell Park, with 12 contributing buildings. 118 historic buildings in all.
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 (15), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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