Edmond Jacques Eckel (1845-1934), Architect

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St. Joseph, Missouri, 1870-1934

Edmond Jacques Eckel (1845-1934), F.A.I.A.[a]

Edmond Jacques Eckel was born in France in 1845.[1][2] While in France, Eckel was apprenticed to several French architects, studying for four years at the Ecole des Beaux Arts.[1] Around 1870, Eckel traveled to America, settling in St. Joseph, Missouri and commencing a very productive career in architecture.[1][2] In 1873, Eckel spent a season in Lincoln, Nebraska superintending construction of an opera house and operating an architectural partnership as Eckel & Meier. From about 1880 to 1892, Eckel was in partnership with George R. Mann as Eckel & Mann. In 1910 he established a long-standing architectural firm in Saint Joseph, Missouri with his George R. Eckel and William S. Aldrich as Eckel & Aldrich, Architects [6]. Edmond Eckel died in 1934.[1][2]

This page is a contribution to the publication, Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. See the Format and contents of Nebraska architect entries page for more information on the compilation and page organization.

Compiled Nebraska Directory Listings

Educational & Professional Associations

1873: Eckel & Meier, architects, Lincoln, Nebraska.

ca. 1880-1892: Eckel & Mann, Architects, Saint Joseph, Missouri.

1910-1934: Eckel & Aldrich, Saint Joseph, Missouri.[c]

Buildings & Projects

Dated

Hallo's Opera House (1873), SW corner of 12th & O, Lincoln, Nebraska.[5][b]

Eckel & Meier, Architects, 1873, Lincoln

While Eckel was in Lincoln superintending the construction of Hallo's Opera House, he advertised repeatedly as "Eckel & Meier, Architects and Superintendents." Alfred Meier (1850-1916) was a Swiss-born architect and civil engineer. No additional projects by the partnership of Eckel & Meier have been identified.[7][8][9]

Eckel & Mann, Architects, 1880-1892, Saint Joseph, Missouri

The Omaha-area work of the partnership Eckel & Mann is detailed on their separate page.

Undated

Notes

a. Eckel's name is spelled in various sources as Edmond or Edmund and Jacques or Jaques. The spelling selected for this page is from his death certificate and from his gravestone in Mount Mora Cemetery in St. Joseph, Missouri.[3][4]

b. A note in Nebraska State Journal in March of 1873 reported: "Edmund Eckel, Architect. The gentleman who is the architect and superintendent of the Opera House building being constructed by H. Hallo, will remain in Lincoln during the summer, and can be seen at the store of H. Hallo, corner of O and 11 streets."[5]

c. The architectural firm of Eckel & Aldrich continues today (2018) in Saint Joseph, Missouri as Brunner and Brunner, Architects and Engineers.

d. Meier is listed in the 1900 census as having immigrated in 1869 and as a naturalized citizen. His age was 49, having been born in June 1850. Around 1872 he married Lena, who was born in Missouri in 1854. The first two of their children were born in Missouri (in 1873 and 1874), the next ten in Kansas (between 1876 and 1892). At the time of the 1880 census the family resided in Atchison, Kansas, and Alfred Meier was listed as an architect and civil engineer. Alfred Meier's gravestone in Ashland Cemetery in Saint Joseph bears a handsome bas relief portrait of the architect.[8][9]

References

1. Henry Futhey & Elise Rathburn Witney, Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Los Angeles: Hennessey & Ingalls, Inc., 1970).

2. St. Joseph, Missouri city directories; and Wikipedia contributors, "Edmond Jacques Eckel," Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Accessed online on January 23, 2018 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Jacques_Eckel

3. "Edmond Jacques Eckel," Certificate of Death on December 12, 1934, Missouri State Board of Health Accessed online on January 23, 2018, at https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1934/1934_00043294.PDF

4. "Edmond Jacques Eckel," Find A Grave. Accessed online on January 23, 2018, at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/64571459/edmond-jacques-eckel

5. "Edmund Eckel, Architect," (Lincoln) Nebraska State Journal (March 16, 1873), 4.

6. "Preliminary Inventory K0258 (KA0355) Edmond Jacques Eckel (1845-1934) Papers," State Historical Society of Missouri Research Center-Kansas City. Accessed online on January 23, 2018 at https://shsmo.org/manuscripts/kansascity/k0258.pdf

7. Advertisements for "Eckel & Meier" in (Lincoln) Nebraska State Journal from March 16, 1873 to July 29, 1873.

8. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. s.v. "Alfred Meier." Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004; Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. s.v. "Alfestal Meier.Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc.

9. "Alfred Meier," Find A Grave. Accessed online on January 23, 2018, at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63818794/mei

Page Citation

E. F. Zimmer, “Edmond Jacques Eckel (1845-1934), Architect,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, January 23, 2018. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, March 29, 2024.


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