Dixon Downtown Historic District

Dixon's downtown historic district occupies about 53 acres along the Rock River in north-central Illinois, roughly one hundred miles west of Chicago. It includes 154 properties on seventeen blocks, built between 1853 and 1961. About half are attached commercial buildings from the 1850s to the 1940s. The core sits between the Galena Avenue and Peoria Avenue bridges, with industrial uses to the east and west, including a 1920s hydroelectric plant at the dam, and homes at the western edge. South of the commercial blocks are civic and religious buildings, among them the 1900 Beaux Arts county courthouse, a 1908 post office and the 1853 Nachusa House. The city grew from a ferry crossing on the route to the Galena lead mines, and the district records its rise as a commercial center for northern Illinois. Of its resources, 108 contribute to its character, while 46 were built later or altered too much to contribute.