Dixon's Mill, Sciotoville

In 1804 Emmanuel Traxler built the first mill in area.  It was built in the area that we now know as Dixon Mill.  The mill was owned by several people between 1804 and 1850 when Silas Dixon bought it from Joseph Smith.  Silas was a former owner and operator of a mill on Salt Creek in Vinton County, Ohio.  He also once operated a mill in North Carolina.

In 1866, George Dixon and Noah Dixon (sons of Silas) became the owners and made great improvements in the machinery.   In 1880, Noah Dixon became the sole owner of the mill.  Noah added a sawmill and a flour mill.  The flour mill produced 30 to 40 barrels of flour each day. 

The mill had three separate water openings for its operation.  The first and largest was for grinding corn and wheat flour through two horizontal stone wheels.  The second opening allowed water to pass through a turbine to operate a saw mill.  The third opening was for shelling corn and grinding buck wheat.

This mill employed about half a dozen men, and they worked from dawn to dusk.  The workers came to the mill from Franklin Furnace, Stockdale and surrounding areas.

After the mill had been established, the road received its name, the Dixon Mill Road.  A covered bridge was built spanning the river near the mill.  It was then the longest bridge in Scioto County.  In 1920 the water flow from the mill changed the river bed and high water washed out the covered bridge.  An iron bridge crossed replaced the covered bridge.  The iron bridge was replaced in 2006.  Click here for the news article.

Nearly every spring the water level rose and caused the mill to be temporarily shut down.  In 1914 one of the stone grinding wheels fell which resulted in the mill closing permanently.  The mill was torn down in 1920, and the materials were used to build a barn.