Dix

History

Among the first settlers around Dix were two brothers named Andrews (Arba and Nelson?), who came from Rome, New York, around 1830. One of them established a post office called "Jordan's Prairie", the name already given to the grassland to the south. Later he platted out a village, which he called "Rome", after his home town in New York. The post office was moved into the village in 1852, and the name changed. Hiram Milburn of Kell, Illinois, moved to Rome between 1853 and 1855. Milburn built a storehouse in 1853 and a hotel in 1854. It is said that during the construction of the hotel, a wind blew the structure down into a pile, while two men were on the joists, but nobody was hurt. In 1855 Milburn purchased Leuty's Mill and moved it to Rome. Although Rome Township still exists, the name of the post office was changed to "Dix" in 1865. There was and still is another Rome, Illinois, and the Postal Service insisted that the name of this village be changed. The community incorporated as the village of Rome in 1873. The name of the village was not legally changed to Dix until the 1960s. There are several stories as to the origin of the name "Dix". One is that the town was renamed in honor of General John Adams Dix. At the outbreak of the Civil War, General Dix sent a telegram to his agents in New Orleans stating: "If any man pulls down the American flag, shoot him on the spot." Although the telegram was intercepted by Confederate agents and never reached its intended recipient, the text reached the press, and General Dix became one of the first heroes in the North. Dix is served by the Norfolk Southern Railway. This was built around 1890. The rail line comes from the St. Louis area and turns southeast at Dix. It follows the west side of Casey Creek down to Mt. Vernon.

Geography

Dix is located in northern Jefferson County. Illinois Route 37 is the village's Main Street, leading south to Mount Vernon, the county seat, and north to Salem. Interstate 57 passes through the western side of the village, with access from Exit 103. I-57 leads south to Interstate 64 at Mount Vernon and north to Interstate 70 at Effingham. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Dix has a total area of , of which (or 99.52%) is land and (or 0.48%) is water. Dix is located on high ground that marks the boundary between the Big Muddy River and its tributary, Casey Creek. Today Dix is an exit on Interstate 57, a major north–south roadway. When it was founded, however, it was on the Goshen Road, which was the main east–west road in Illinois, running from Old Shawneetown on the Ohio River to near East St. Louis on the Mississippi.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,638
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  1,202
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  1,132
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,068
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,013
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  973
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  941
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  928

Most recent

• M 3.51 — 2026-06-29
  6 km NE of West Salem, Illinois
• M 2.81 — 2024-03-28
  1 km NNE of Germantown, Illinois
• M 2.53 — 2024-03-05
  6 km ENE of Pinckneyville, Illinois
• M 3.07 — 2023-12-18
  5 km WNW of Waltonville, Illinois
• M 2.58 — 2023-10-26
  6 km SSE of Herrick, Illinois
• M 2.73 — 2023-09-10
  9 km E of Parkersburg, Illinois