Thomas Dickson's Land and the Railroad Depots
This depot, built in 2006, stands as a memorial to our founder Thomas Dickson and his son-in-law, Daniel Blanchy Huff (DB Huff) . This parking lot, site, following the tracks east to A Street, across the tracks to the lumber yard, to the site of the original depot and along Railroad Avenue was the original 10 acres Dickson donated to the California Pacific Railroad (Cal-P) for the depot and town purposes. This third depot is a replica of the 2nd depot, built in 1884, after a fire in 1883 burnt the first one. The original, built in 1869, as well as the depots in Davisville, Elmira, Fairfield, and South Vallejo were all designed by DB Huff, who also built the railroad line from Elmira to Vacaville.
When Dixon’s first depot was built, the Superintendent, said “put a sign up, call it Dickson”, but he didn’t say how to spell it. There are other stories of how Dicksonville became spelled Dixon, this is just one.
Walk through the undercrossing, a time machine to 1869-1878, and exit the stairs to the left to arrive at the location of the first 2 depots, the original Tribune Newspaper building, from 1874, and Huff's office. The original depots sat at the intersection of the gravel street to the north, known as Railroad Avenue, B Street, and the triangle-shaped lot to your right. This, except the southwest corner housing a blacksmith shop, was A. Powell’s Lumber Yard, which DB Huff built in 1873 and was the agent. Huff controlled all the shipping along the Cal-P line and Dixon was second only to Vallejo in California, because of this shipping business.
In 1876, after the taxes failed to be paid on Dickson’s donated land and a lawsuit in 1875, “D.B. Huff purchases of G. Cadwalader, of Sacramento, the tract of land known as the Haskin’s tract. It adjoins the railroad, and was deeded to Mr. Haskins by Thos. Dickson, under the supposition that he was deeding it to the railroad company.”
Imagine what the town could have become, had he not saved this precious gift. Huff began selling some of the lots, a few in particular, to Milton Carpenter, a Blacksmith and Wagon maker, who was in business, then continued by his family, longer than any other, over 150 years. Huff and his wife, the baby born on the Oregon trail, Eva Dickson, lived on the corner of Railroad Avenue and N. First Street, next to Carpenter’s shop, when Huff died in October of 1878.
Daniel Huff petitioned for the town to be incorporated in 1874. It finally happed in 1878. The map above is from the Historical Atlas in 1878. Note the Haskins Land is now owned by DB Huff.
March 26, 1872 - see the Haskins Land- this is the land Thomas Dickson donated for the depot and other town purposes back in 1867 and deeded to the C.P.R.R. for the railroad to be built through his land, a village already known as Dicksonville, with the depot to be named Dickson Station.
This map shows the lots and layout Thomas Dickson filed in 1872 of his property to be sold to become part of the Town of Dixon
April 2, 1873
March 24, 1869 -
Huff designs the original Dixon depot
as well as all the depots in South Vallejo, Fairfield and Davisville (Davis now)
August 29, 1868-
The railroad is complete and the train takes it's 1st trip through Dickson
January 13, 1869-
town still named Dickson and train station is still Dickson Station
July 18, 1874
1878
For more information on the History of the Town and the other 3 founders, shown on the map above...click here
These are all photos of the 2nd Depot built in 1884
The original depot built in 1869 on land donated by Thomas Dickson for the town and the depot and designed by his son-in-law, Daniel Blanchy Huff, burned in the great fire in November of 1883