Dixon, CA

Dixon is the Solano County town on Interstate 80 between Davis and Vacaville, with State Route 113 meeting the freeway at its edge. Its story starts with Silveyville, a settlement founded around 1852. When the railroad laid its line a few miles off, townspeople moved the whole community over to the tracks. Thomas Dickson donated the depot land, and a spelling slip on railroad paperwork turned his name into the one the town carries now. Sheep country shaped the identity. Dixon bills itself as Lambtown USA, a nod to its days as one of the busiest lambing centers anywhere. Each October the Lambtown Festival fills the May Fairgrounds with wool vendors, workshops and competitions, and the Dixon May Fair, which calls itself the oldest district fair in California, uses the same grounds in spring. The old Milk Farm sign, a roadside landmark for decades, is remembered at the Dixon Historical Society & Museum, which is the place to go for more of the local story. Downtown is where you find the eating spots people actually choose. Firehouse Bistro does comfort food, Bud's Pub & Grill has a brunch following, and Punjabi Dhaba serves Indian dishes out on Batavia Road. Homes sit in a mix of older streets near the center and newer subdivisions around the edges, with farmland starting right at the city limit. Public schooling falls under Dixon Unified, from the elementary campuses up through the high school. Getting around is mostly by car. The downtown train station building now houses the chamber of commerce rather than passengers, so the interstate is the main link to Davis, Sacramento and the Bay Area. The distance from larger job centers is the tradeoff, and it means long hours on Interstate 80 for anyone commuting. Dixon offsets that with a calendar that still revolves around the harvest, the fair and the flocks.