Where’s Dixonville? (a.k.a. A Lesson in Research)

While doing a little behind-the-scenes cleanup on our North Carolina Postcards online collection, I came upon the postcard above. Having never heard of Dixonville, I checked the trusty North Carolina Gazetteer (both the 1968 version and the 2010 revised edition). But, alas, Dixonville was not listed. Surprised, I went to one of the men behind the 2010 edition. Michael Hill suggested I check one of his trusty sources, Post Offices and Postmasters of North Carolina: Colonial to USPS, a four-volume listing of post offices and postmasters past and present released by the North Carolina Postal History Society. The set provides a fascinating look back at the history of settlement in North Carolina.

Lo and behold, Dixonville appeared in the index. The Greene County post office opened in 1898 and closed in 1903. The postmaster was one Doremus W. Dixon. But this information only made me eager to know more. James M. Creech’s History of Greene County, North Carolina: Compiled from Legends, Hearsay, Records Found There and Elsewhere reports that Dixonville:

Was located on the north side of Great Contentnea Creek, near the old Indian Fort Chicking, about four miles downstream from Hookerton and about four miles southeast of Ormondsville. This place has also been called the Murfree Dixon Tar Landing and Murfree Dixon Ferry. Murfree Dixon built his plantation manor here named, “Grampion Hills”. In the year 1898, Mr. and Mrs. Privett ran a steam saw mill here; a dry goods store, a church, a school and a new post office made up the town, along with several homes.

Still curious, I searched for Dixonville among the offerings in our North Carolina Maps online collection. The community shows up on a map of rural delivery routes from the 1910s. But there’s no sign of Dixonville on a road survey from 1930 or on road maps from subsequent years.

Does anyone in Greene County speak of Dixonville these days? Are there any traces of the community left? Please let us know.