The Odd Mascot Originally Painted On St. George's Red Hill

The "Dixie" you see painted on the Sugarloaf rock above St. George was not what was originally painted there. The class of 1913 at Dixie High Academy was the first to paint the rock and they put "1913" in white letters there.

The Origins of Dixie Rock

Matthew Bentley details how the "Dixie" on the Red Hill and the "D" on the Black Hill came to be. It is a fun and interesting account and reveals that there was an earlier mascot that got its mark painted on the rock.

There was a budding rivalry between the 1913 class and the 1914 class at Dixie High Academy. The younger group was three times as big and they were not happy with the "1913" painted by the older class.

The Rivalry Between Classes Increases

A few nights after the "1913" was painted citizens woke up to see the "3" had been painted over with red paint and a "4" was in its place. But that wasn't all. Next to the numbers they included the letter "D".

This is a recreation of what it looked like. You can see an actual photo on the link. Google

You may think the D stood for Dixie, but it was actually for "Dolphins". That's right, the nickname for the class of 1914 was the Dolphins. How did a school in the desert get a nickname of an ocean swimming mammal.

What the Original "D" Actually Stood For

Turns out it was name chosen to respect their president Dolph Atkin. I love the Flyer mascot, but it would have been funny if the dolphin mascot had continued. It would have been so out of place.

This changing of the numbers on the red hill went back and forth until the class 1915 started to get into the rivalry. Before everything got out of hand, school administrators and class leadership got together to address things.

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They decided to find something that would bring the whole school together and that is when "Dixie" was painted in white wash as it appears today. At this time they also put the "D" on the black hill.