Captain Joel Dix House
Jonathan Farmer, blacksmith, bought a lot east of Mears' tavern stand about 1812. He seems to have teamed up with cousin-in-law Henry Merrill; they may have taken over the forge on the east bank below the fulling mill. By 1819, they were in difficulty and their assets, including the house, were divided among creditors. The house reverted to the Proprietors of the Canal.
Captain Joel Dix bought the house in 1822. A sister had married John Mixer, who lived further west on Elm St, and another sister married Jonathan Wilson, who bought a house east of the dam in 1814. Thus, there was a nucleus of closely related families in the community started by the Proprietors and they provided their own housing. It wasn't until after 1850 that the Faulkners and Talbots began to provide housing for their employees.
Dix died in 1861. He had acquired an interest in Mears' tavern stand after Mears' death. Dix's successors in the area were Anthony Jones and Dudley Foster. They used the home and tavern stand as rental properties.
The house was considered the last example of a central chimney in Billerica, but burned down in October 1996.