Dixon Then and Now: From the County's Second Largest Store to Hair Salon

About 100 years ago, the Oscar C. Schulze store on the northwest corner of First and B streets was Dixon’s , eventually becoming the second largest general store in Solano County, after one in Vallejo.

This whole story revolves around both the building, which remains today in modified form, and the family, which still has a presence in rural Dixon.

First of all, the building. In 1883, it was constructed for only $13,000 by San Francisco-based Eppinger, Fox and Co. (an earlier building at that location was relocated). The company dealt in both grain transactions and general merchandise, which I assume included food, clothing, housewares, hardware and farm equipment. Later, the company became simply Eppinger and Co.

I don’t know why Dixon was selected as an outpost of this San Francisco company, but it must’ve been seen as an up-and-coming commercial center, and a heavy grain-shipping point considering its location along the main railroad.

As you might guess, the family originated in Germany. Oscar’s cabinetmaker father, Oscar A. Schulze (pronounced SCHOL-zee), seemed comfortable moving frequently and after leaving Germany, set up housekeeping variously in New York City, Cuba, Peru and California. Son Oscar C., for example, was born in Peru. After finally settling in California, the father tried the gold fields for a few years, then lived in the Bay Area (but developed asthma there – ill health seemed to plague the family line) and finally went north to establish vineyards in the Napa Valley. In California another son was born (Gustave, who eventually became a jeweler in Dixon – the name G. D. Schulze is still preserved on the façade of a building on the east side of First Street).

Son Oscar C. Schulze settled in Dixon where he worked for the R. H. Brown company. His business prowess led to being hired to run the Eppinger Company’s operation for 15 years in Germantown in Glenn County, where he dealt in grain and wool. Meanwhile, he married the former Caroline Todt, and they had five children, but only three lived – Otto, Herbert and Olga.  

Next, he was assigned to run Eppinger’s general store and grain business in Dixon. Oscar C. was by all accounts well-thought-of and a success, and he was active in some of the city’s prominent organizations including the Masons and the Shriners.

In 1903, the Eppinger Company failed, and perhaps because it owed Oscar C. a good deal of money, he was allowed to take ownership of the Dixon store, and it was then named after him.

The family tragedy was that Oscar C., who in photographs of the time looked to be quite healthy, shortly after taking over ownership of the store had a case of the flu from which he didn’t fully recover. A year later, he developed a serious spleen problem (at that time called Banti’s disease) which required surgery. He died on the operating table at age 45. A few lines from a magazine were found in his pocket which seemed to confirm his personality:

“Always remember this all your life, no matter what happens to you, a man is never defeated until the last shot is fired; and remember this too: that even if he is defeated he is not beaten, provided he has done the very best he could and has never lost heart.”

Upon his early death (his father was still living), Oscar C.’s family took over operation of the large enterprise, especially son Otto (then a physician living in Napa), who had oversight over the operation, and son Herbert, who directly managed the store. An ad which is shown in the photographs along with this column, marks the transition, when the Oscar C. Schulze Company became Oscar C. Schulze, Inc.

I assume that Oscar. C.’s widow (who was considered a strong woman) also played a part in the running of the enterprise. She died 16 years after her husband at age 54.

At some point in the family history, whether it was before or after Oscar C. died young, the family bought up and tore down the entire block across from the store, primarily to rid the city of that area’s brewery, saloons and brothels, built the old post office building there in 1913, and donated the rest of the land for the Carnegie library (which was dedicated in 1913) and the popular Women’s Improvement Club park.

At the store’s high point, its building or buildings stretched from First Street all the way back to near the railroad, which are now occupied by Mae’s Attic and the Moose Lodge.     

I detect that over time, the family slowly became less involved with the business, and in 1925 it was sold to Stuart Grady, who at the time was one of the store’s managers. As time went on, some competitors opened stores in Dixon, particularly in the areas of groceries and clothing.

Over time, some of the architectural details of the building have been removed or stucco-ed over, but the progression of occupants follows: Eppinger and Fox, Eppinger’s, Oscar C. Schulze, Stuart Grady, the Barker grocery store, Western Auto, and a dress store. Possibly missing from the sequence is Ferguson’s store.

Nowadays, a quite different store from Schulze’s is located in the main part of the building. Cynde’s Place Salon and Boutique, a popular women’s hairdressers, opened in 2001 and is owned by Cinde Opperman. The building itself is owned by the Azevedo family (see my earlier column about their grain elevator operation).

It’s too bad we can’t go back in time and view the Oscar C. Schulze store when it was in its bustling prime, to see the amazing variety of goods available in the store and its staff and customers. Perhaps we can get a hint of this by looking at the store’s ads which appear along with this column and the one photograph of its interior.

At some future time, people will wonder exactly what today’s Dixon Walmart experience was like.