Elijah S. Silvey first settled in the Dixon area in 1852. Silvey operated the HalfWay House in a farming community later known as Silveyville. This roadhouse was located along a well-traveled route to the Sierra foothills and California Gold Rush country. However, the town of Dixon literally came into existence when the California Pacific Railroad reached it on 28 August 1868. The name Silveyville changed to Dixon when Thomas Dickson, a prosperous rancher, donated 10 acres of land near the California Pacific Railroad line for a town site and train station. In his honor, the depot was first called Dickson Station. When the first consignment of goods arrived by rail, the address erroneously read "Dixon," and so the town's name has remained ever since.
Dixon was incorporated in 1878. In its early years, Dixon was known for grain and, later, for alfalfa and dairy farming. Today Dixon, a town still rich in its agricultural roots, supports a population of almost 14,000 and has a terrain and climate that seem more like the flat Central Valley than its North Bay Area county location. Home to the annual August Lambtown Festival, Dixon has a well-deserved national reputation as a sheep industry leader. Dixon is also the home of the May Fair, the oldest state affiliated fair in California.
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