A piece of Dixon history: The rise and fall of Dixon’s cement plant

This is part three of four articles about Dixon’s cement plant, which opened in 1907 but is set to close completely in the next few months. This part focuses on key historic events in its rise and fall.

In 1913, a major boost for Dixon’s cement plant came from the nation’s proposed Lincoln Highway. The famous project sought to build a “hard-surfaced road” that stretched from coast to coast. The new thoroughfare, which came through the heart of Dixon, would facilitate faster transportation for the emerging automobile industry, replacing bumpy dirt roads that turned to mud after each rain.

The Sandusky Portland Cement Company, which owned the Dixon plant, saw the long-term business benefits of building roads made of concrete. Since some highway planners thought cement would be too expensiv