Remembering When
by
Jerry Person
Huntington Beach City Historian
Dedicated to the people of Huntington Beach
Remembering Huntington's Mortician- Arch Dixon
If you have ever driven down Main Street a several years ago, you may remember the intersection of where Main, Palm and Seventh streets intersect and at this once dangerous intersection there once stood a triangle shaped single story mortuary and for this week we're going to remember the owners of that mortuary.
Before it became known as Smith's Mortuary it was Dixon's Mortuary and the owner was a prominent pillar of our community.
Arch H. Dixon was born in 1875 and lived his early years in central California and as Dixon was growing up America discovered the automobile as a popular means of transportation and in those early times many of the early auto makers would stage races to advertise the car's endurance.
One of those early race drivers was Arch Dixon in those years Dixon competed against one of racings best know race drivers, Barney Oldfield.
By 1907 Dixon had become a mortician in Bakersfield and in 1919 he served as coroner for Kern County.
Dixon came to Huntington Beach in 1927 and in July purchased the mortuary at 627 Main from S.L. Harrell. He remodeled the interior of the building to give it a more pleasing and restful- no pun inten
Dixon also ran a mortuary in Costa Mesa where he trained his stepson Milton in the business.
The Dixons had a custom house on Frankfort Avenue built for he and his wife to live in until just after World War II, when they sold it to Vic and Dorothy Terry.
Mrs. Dixon must have been a real cat person because there were four or five cat doors throughout the house when the Terrys bought the place. At the time Dixon built his house, that part of town was considered on the wrong side of the tracks.
Dixon and his wife Lillian were prominent members of our social community and they contributed many hours to our city's social life. The Dixons also maintained a summer home in Altadena.
Arch Dixon had been a member of our local Lions Club and a member of the Huntington Beach Rotary Club, for he believed in business and was president of the Huntington Beach Business Men's Association and was a staunch member of the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce. He attended our Methodist church in town with his wife and daughter Alta.
After he retired Dixon went to live with Alta in Oildale, California and on November 16, 1959, Arch Dixon passed peacefully away to become a part of Huntington Beach's rich and sometimes colorful history.