St. George Stake Academy to Dixie Academy in 1911 because it was located in "Utah's Dixie" region. It appears that Brigham Young and other local settlers started calling the region that name because it is the lower-elevation area of south-central Washington County in the southwestern portion of Utah. Since the winter is very mild compared to the rest of the state due to the northeastern edge of the Mojave Desert being located in the area, settlers were able to grow cotton, tobacco, and other temperate cash crops. While there is no evidence that slavery existed in that part of Utah, the area was settled by a number of former slave drivers and slave owners who still sympathized with the South.