Are You From Dixie?

Washington County has many nicknames such as "red rock country" or "the other Palm Springs," but is most frequently referred to as "Dixie." References to "Dixie" are everywhere in Washington County. For instance, health care is provided at Dixie Regional Medical Center; students attend Dixie Middle School, Dixie High School or Dixie State College; and the St. George Chamber of Commerce has long promoted the area as "Utah’s Dixie."

Visitors to the area often ask "why ‘Dixie’?" According to the 1996 A History of Washington County: From Isolation to Destination by Douglas D. Alder and Karl F. Brooks, "the word ‘Dixie’ in southern Utah is used almost synonymously in relation to Washington County, usually linked to the pioneer industry of growing cotton, but also emphasizes the climate which is distinctly different from the rest of the state of Utah and the lower altitude - some 2500 feet below the nearby rim of the Great Basin where much of the rest of the population of the state resides."

In the long run, the most simple definition of ‘Dixie’ comes from a song written by Roene di Fiore and performed routinely at meetings of St. George Rotary Club where St. George City Mayor Dan McArthur is a member:

Are you from Dixie?
I said from Dixie.
Where the fields of cotton beckon to me.

We’re glad to see ya
To say, "how be ya?"
And the friends we’re longin’ to see.

If you’re from Santa Clara, Washington or St. George, fine,
Anywhere below the Iron County line,
Then you’re from Dixie.
Hurray for Dixie
‘Cause I’m from Dixie, too!"