Queer Places:
Olympus Manor, State Route 106, Mason County, WA 98592
Cypress View Mausoleum, Mortuary and Crematory, 3953 Imperial Ave at, S 40th St, San Diego, CA 92113, United States

Morrison Frank Pixley (December 11, 1865 – February 13, 1959) was a pioneering entrepreneur, conservationist, and community developer whose life spanned significant eras of growth, culture, and preservation across California and Washington State.

Born in San Francisco to parents William Pixley and Emma Catharine O'Rielly Pixley, he grew up alongside his siblings—William Isaac, Henry O'Rielly, and Aristine Maud—on family homesteads in San Francisco and Marin County.

In the late 1880s, Pixley moved with his widowed mother and siblings to the newly founded central California community of Pixley, which had been established by his uncle, Frank Morrison Pixley. There, he served as the town's first railway stationmaster, taught at the local one-room school, and farmed the surrounding fields. In 1891, he married Nella Vida Clark, with whom he had three children: Aristine, Marcia, and Clark Morrison.

After living in central California, Pixley and his family returned to Marin County in 1893. He played a vital role in developing the town of Corte Madera from his family's acreage, surveying land that became known as "Christmas Tree Hill" for summer camping and residential lots. During this time, he published a monthly periodical called the Golden Hinde and became an early conservation champion. Alongside his lifelong friend William Kent, Pixley urged the preservation of the local redwood forests. Kent subsequently purchased the land and donated a portion to the federal government, leading President Theodore Roosevelt to declare the area Muir Woods National Monument in 1908.

Following the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, increased demand for Corte Madera lots allowed Pixley to leverage his savings and purchase land near Union, Washington, along the Hood Canal. He relocated his family there around 1916 and began selling home lots, inviting artist friends to settle in the area. This vision transformed the community into Washington State's first artist colony, centered around the estate featuring Olympus Manor and its famed music room.

Olympus Manor was located on a wooded bluff along the shores of Hood Canal near Union, Washington, adjacent to Frank Pixley’s landholdings. Built by Orre Nelson Nobles starting in the 1920s as a creative compound and guest lodge, the original buildings—including its famous music room—were largely lost when the main manor burned down in 1952. Today, physical remnants of the estate include stone pillars and structural foundations off State Route 106 in Mason County, Washington.

Alongside his children, Pixley founded and managed the region's first electric and telephone companies. He later helped create the state's first public utility district, generously donating his electric company to the public.

Around the 1910s, Pixley became a profound mentor and inspiration to a younger artist, Orre Nelson Nobles. Nobles viewed Pixley as the embodiment of an independent, well-traveled life surrounded by art and music, prompting Nobles to purchase adjacent land and build his own creative estate. Nobles became a permanent fixture in the Pixley household, and together their properties formed the core of a thriving, bohemian artistic colony on the Hood Canal that flourished for decades.

In his elder years, Pixley moved back to central California to live near descendants who were ranching. He passed away on February 13, 1959, at the age of 93 in Visalia, California, and was laid to rest at the Cypress View Mausoleum, Mortuary and Crematory in San Diego.

References:

The Lavender Palette: Gay Culture and the Art of Washington (2020) by David F. Martin

Other references:

• Fredson, Michael. Artist Colony on Hood Canal. Detailed historical account chronicling the artistic enclave founded by Frank Pixley, Orre Nelson Nobles, and Waldo Chase in Union, Washington.
• Fairley, Lincoln. Mount Tamalpais, a History. Features documentation on Morrison Frank Pixley’s early conservation advocacy in Marin County and his collaboration with William Kent regarding the protection of local redwood forests.
• U.S. Federal Census & Vital Statistics: Documentation of Morrison Frank Pixley’s birth (December 11, 1865, in San Francisco), marriage to Nella Vida Clark (1891), and passing (February 13, 1959, in Visalia, California).
• Cypress View Mausoleum, Mortuary and Crematory Records (San Diego, California) – Burial documentation.
• Tulare County Library (Annie R. Mitchell History Room) & California Revealed: Archival photographs and historical summaries detailing Morrison Frank Pixley's early years as stationmaster and schoolteacher in the central California town of Pixley, founded by his uncle Frank Morrison Pixley.

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