Difference between revisions of "Paul O. Moratz (1866-1939), Architect"

Revision as of 10:25, 3 July 2018

Paul Moratz was born on April 14, 1866 in Granwitz, Posen, Germany. He was the oldest of seven children born to Herman and Emelie (Eisner) Moratz. In 1868 Herman sent for his wife and their two year old son Paul, to join him in Bloomington, Illinois, which became the family’s permanent home. Paul assisted with his father's carpentry work. He went to study architectural drawing at Illinois Industrial School from 1888-1889. To pay his own way, Moratz did many small carpentry jobs for people that he knew. He likely graduated in 1892 but it is unconfirmed. Afterwards, Moratz returned to Bloomington. By the late 1880s Paul took over work for his father, and the shop now offered counters, furniture, shelving, plans for remodeling, buildings, as well as repair work. Moratz built planing mills and woodworking factories in Bloomington. He married his wife Emma Riebsame, daughter of German immigrants, on December 28, 1893. The couple lived with their two sons, Roland and Armin, in two Wood St. homes that Paul built in Bloomington. [2] Moratz was licensed to practice architecture in the State of Illinois in 1897. Moratz built not only many homes in Bloomington, but also 28 to 60 libraries, several churches, schools, and the original "Coliseum" convention center in Bloomington. The Bloomington Coliseum of 1897 seized the attention of a committee interested in building a public auditorium for Lincoln, Nebraska. Members secured Moratz's services and plans in mid-1899 and the Lincoln building was nearly completed by the end of that year.[4][5][6][a] The Carnegie library in Neligh, Nebraska, Moratz's only other known project in the state, was completed in 1911.[1]

After four and a half city blocks of Bloomington (45 buildings) burned in a fire in 1900, Moratz and 2 other Bloomington architects helped rebuild the entire downtown area in 18 months in a "harmonious style." By 1909, Moratz's planing mill had grown to employ 80 "experienced wood workers" during the busy season. His building was destroyed by a fire in 1925, and he rebuilt with his business focus on his patented ready-to-install hardwood flooring. Again partially destroyed by fire in 1931, Moratz repaired the plant once more, which he then operated until his death. Paul Moratz died on March 4, 1939.[2]

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

Educational & Professional Associations

1899: James Tyler served as superintendent during construction of Moratz's design for Lincoln Auditorium.[5]

ca. 1900: employed A.T. Simmons, Architect [2]

Buildings & Projects

Home for John Van Schoick (1892), 103 W. Wood St., Bloomington, Illinois.[2]

St. Patrick's Church (1893), W. Locust St., Bloomington, Illinois.[2]

Home for Henry Miller (1895), 909 S. Center St., Bloomington, Illinois.[2]

Moratz 2nd Home (1895-1896), 108 W. Wood St., Bloomington, Illinois.[2]

Home for William Van Schoick (1896), 302 W. Wood St., Bloomington, Illinois.[2]

Addition to Withers Public Library (1897), Bloomington, Illinois.[2]

Original Coliseum (1897), Front St & Roosevelt Ave., Bloomington, Illinois.[2][3]

A. Herr & E.E. Smith Public Library (1897), Loda, Illinois.[2]

Main Iron & Rock gates to "Whites Place" (1898), White's Place Nbhd., Bloomington, Illinois.[2][3]

Home for Phineas and Mattie Stubblefield (1898), 518 E. Chestnut St., Bloomington, Illinois.[2][3]

Home for John & Ada Bertoni (1898), 807 S. Main St., Bloomington, Illinois.[2]

Home for Everett & Christine Oglevee (1898), 1107 E. Monroe St., Bloomington, Illinois.[2]

Lincoln Auditorium (1898-1899), SE corner of 13th & M Sts., Lincoln, Nebraska.[4][5][a]

Home for Samuel White (1899), 27 White Pl., Bloomington, Illinois.[2][3]

Klemm building for C.W. Klemm (1901), 105-107 W Jefferson St., Bloomington, Illinois.[2]

Bridge across Eastern end of Miller Park (ca. 1901), Bloomington, Illinois.[2]

School for St. Patrick's Church (1902), W. Locust St., Bloomington, Illinois.[2]

School and Convent for St. Mary's Parish (1902), Pontiac, Illinois.[2]

St. John's parish Church (1902), Fairbury, Illinois.[2]

Edwards School (1902-1904), 801-804 W. Market St., Bloomington, Illinois.[2]

Pekin Library (1903), Pekin, Illinois.[2]

Tuscola Public Library (1903), Tuscola, Illinois.[2]

Moratz 3rd Home (1903-1904), 210 W. Wood St., Bloomington, Illinois.[2]

Paxton Carnegie Library (1904), Paxton, Illinois.[2]

Sullivan Public Library (1909), Sullivan, Indiana.[2]

Dominy Memorial Library (1905), Fairbury, Illinois.[2]

Downs Public Library (1905), Downs, Kansas.[2]

Whiting Public Library (1906), Whiting, Indiana.[2]

Russell Public Library (1906), Russell, Kansas.[2]

El Paso Public Library (1906), El Paso, Illinois.[2]

"Broadview" Home for Bird & Margaret Van Leer (now Van Leer Academy of Music & Arts) (1906), 1301 S. Fell Ave., Normal, Illinois.[2]

Harriman Public Library (1908), Harriman, Kansas.[2]

Adrian Public Library (1909), Adrian, Michigan.[2]

Neligh Carnegie Library (1908-1911) 510 Main, Neligh, Nebraska.[1] (AP04-011)

Writings & Publications

Paul O. Moratz, Up-to-date Homes, Bloomington, Illinois, 1899. [2][3]

Paul O. Moratz, Artistic Homes, Bloomington, Illinois, monthly, ca. 1890s.[2][3]

Patent for Ready-to-install Hardwood Flooring, received April 3, 1934. [2]

Notes

a. Nebraska State Journal reported in June 1899 that "Last week two members of the [Auditorium building] committee visted the Coliseum at Bloomington, Ill., and decided that so far as they were concerned they would look no further. They brought the plans home with them, and will present them to the directors at a meeting to be held tonight." When that newspaper reported on June 28, 1899 that the Bloomington building has been accepted as the model for the Lincoln auditorium, Moratz's signed drawings of the interior and exterior of the Bloomington "Armory and Coliseum" were published as "Accepted Plan for the Lincoln Auditorium." The Lincolnites who visited Bloomington were named as J. E. Miller and J. C. Seacrest. Construction proceeded so quickly in Lincoln on December 31, 1899 that the building was only a few weeks from completion, according to Nebraska State Journal. At that time the hunt for a suitable design was described further: "Committee from the board of directors visited cities near and far for the purpose of finding a good convention hall of the required size that could be erected for less than $20,000. Few desirable auditoriums were found, and these were exceedingly expensive. Finally the committee heard of a new coliseum at Bloomington, Ill., and made a journey thither for the purpose of examining it. They found it to be the strongest, most compact and commodious structure for its cost that they had seen, and it required but a little time to secure the signing of a contract for the erection of its duplicate in Lincoln." The account continued: "The finished plans were presented by Paul O. Moratz, the architect, in August [1899], and the contract for the erection of the entire building was let to T. P. Harrison."[4][5][6]

References

1. Nebraska State Library Commission files, accessed on-line July 3,2018 at http://memories.ne.gov/cdm/singleitem/collection/nlc/id/56/rec/7

2. Candace Summers, "Paul Moratz (1866-1939)" McLean County Museum of History Website. Accessed January 12 via https://web.archive.org/web/20170306144921/http://www.mchistory.org/research/resources/paul-moratz.php

3. "Paul O. Moratz Collection" McLean County Museum of History Website. Accessed January 18,2018 via https://web.archive.org/web/20160624021958/http://www.mchistory.org/old/find/paulmoratz.html

4. "More or Less Personal," (Lincoln) Nebraska State Journal (June 27, 1899), 4.

5. "The New Auditorium--Plans Adopted and Work to Begin Shortly--Will Be A Fine Building--Capacity for Four Thousand People Without Crowding--Can Be Ready in Three Months," (Lincoln) Nebraska State Journal (June 28, 1899), 4, illustrated.

6. "The Lincoln Auditorium--New Convention Hall Approaches Completion. A Model in Every Feature--Built by Public Subscription on Ground Owned by the County--Big Enough for the Largest Public Meetings," (Lincoln) Nebraska State Journal (December 31, 1899), 17, illustrated.

Page Citation

P.A. Haynes & E. F. Zimmer, “Paul O. Moratz (1866-1939), Architect,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, July 3, 2018. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, April 24, 2024.

Contact the Nebraska State Historic Preservation Office with questions or comments concerning this page, including any problems you may have with broken links (see, however, the Disclaimers link at the bottom of this page). Please provide the URL to this page with your inquiry.