Difference between revisions of "Percy Parke Lewis (1885-1962), Architect"

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Percy Parke Lewis, 1916

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Percy Parke Lewis was born in Merryall, Pennsylvania on August 12, 1885 to Jackson and Hannah (nee Parke) Lewis. His father, a miller, died in 1890. By 1900, widow Hannah and three of her children, including 14-year-old Percy, lived in Waterbury, Connecticut.[2][3] Young Percy showed an early talent for drawing, taking "first on pen and ink drawing" at the "Waterbury Agricultural fair" in 1900.[4] Whether he had the advantage of much education in architecture is uncertain, but his early choice of an architectural career is clear. When Percy married Ruth Hoffer in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 1909, he was referred to as "a well known architect of this city, formerly of Waterbury, Conn."[7][a] He practiced in Pennsylvania until moving to Omaha in 1916, then to Los Angeles in 1924. His practice there included churches, theaters, houses and large apartment buildings, sometimes illustrated in L.A. newspapers with exquisite watercolor renderings. Lewis retired in 1953 and died in Los Angeles on February 9, 1962.[1][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.

Compiled Nebraska Directory Listings

Omaha, Nebraska, 1917-1925

Educational & Professional Associations

1907: draftsman, Jacksonville, Florida.[6]

1908: took "a course of architecture," New York City.[5]

1910-1911: draftsman in office of (F. L.) Olds & Puckey, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.[9]

1912-1915: partner with Jacob S. Pettebone in Pettebone & Lewis, architects, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.[10]

1916-1918: draftsman and architect with Bankers Realty Investment Co., Omaha, Nebraska.[8]

1919-1924: architect, Omaha, Nebraska.

1924-1951: architect, Los Angeles, California.[1][12]

Buildings & Projects

1910-1915

Lewis worked as a draftsman in the architectural office of Olds & Puckey in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, beginning around 1910, then upon F. L. Olds' death "succeeded" to the business, paracticing in partnership with Jacob S. Pettebone as Pettebone & Lewis from 1912 to 1915.

Project for bridge across Susquehanna River (1914), Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.[11]

1916-1918

On staff, Architectural Department, Bankers Realty Investment Company (BLIC), Omaha, Nebraska (1917-1919). BRIC was a vertically integrated construction and investment firm organized around 1910 in Omaha which offered architectural, financial, and construction services. North American Hotel Company was a closely affiliated subsidiary announced as the operational arm for the enterprise's hotels. Lewis joined the firm early in 1922 and by March visited Albion, Nebraska regarding a hotel project there. This page includes projects on which Lewis' involvement is documented. A full list of the firm's known projects is included on the BLIC page.

Site visit "with a view of arranging preliminary plans" for a hotel (1916), Albion, Nebraska.[13]

Hartington Hotel (1916-1917), Hartington, Nebraska.[16][17]

Atlas Bank & office building, (1917-1918), Neligh, Nebraska.[14][18][19][b] Exterior (2016) severely compromised by window replacement. (AP04-168)

Red Cloud High School (1917-1918), Red Cloud, Nebraska.[15]

Notes

a. P. P. Lewis was listed in the Jacksonville, Florida city directory of 1907 as a draftsman. John H. W. Hawkins was well-established in his Jacksonville architectural practice by that time, having relocated from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 1902. Previously Hawkins was located in Omaha and Lincoln, spending a highly productive decade in Nebraska from 1885-1895. Perhaps it is coincidental that after his year in Jacksonville, Lewis settled in Wilkes-Barre for a decade, then Omaha from 1916-1924, but it seems likely that Hawkins had some influence on those choices.(EFZ)

When Lewis arrived in Omaha in 1916, his new employer, Bankers Realty Investment, boasted that Lewis "is a Columbia University man" and also "studied at the Art Students' League in New York City." Lewis' name cannot be found in Columbia University Alumni Registry. Perhaps it was in reference to the Art Students' League that a Waterbury newspaper mentioned in 1907 that Lewis "has been taking a course of architecture in New York."[5][7][8]

References

1. "Percy Parke Lewis," obituary in Los Angeles Times (February 12, 1962).

2. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census, s.v. "Jackson Lewis" & "Hannah Lewis," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009; Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census, s.v. "Percy Lewis," b. 1885, [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

3. "Jackson Lewis" in Find a Grave," accessed on-line December 9, 2022, at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/87826220/jackson-lewis

4. "Close of the Fair. Long List of Prizes Distributed," Waterbury (Connecticut) Democrat (September 22, 1900), 3.

5. "City News," Waterbury (Connecticut) Democrat (March 6, 1908), 10.

6. Jacksonville, Florida city directory, 1906-1908.

7. The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) (August 31, 1909), 18.

8. "Prominent Wilkes Barre, PA., Architect Comes to Omaha," The New Nebraskan (Omaha, Nebraska) (February 24, 1916), 2; "East Watching Omaha, Declares P. P. Lewis," Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News (February 22, 1916), 12.

9. Succeeds Architect Olds," Pittston (Pennsylvania) Gazette (February 233, 1912), 8.

10. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania city directories.

11. New Bridge Plan...Architect Lewis to Submit Perspective Painting of a Proposed Structure," The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) (July 6, 1914), 17.

12. "Big Apartments Will Be Unique--El Encanto Structure to Be Ultimate in Smart Appointments," Los Angeles (California) Evening Citizen News (May 2, 1924), 8; "El Encanto Has Novel Duplexes--Idea for Apartments is New One Among Western Builders," Los Angeles (California) Evening Citizen News (June 7, 1924), 9.

13. "Albion Hotel Company Incorporates," The Albion (Nebraska) Argus (March 16, 1916), 5; "Hotel Site Announced," The Albion (Nebraska) Argus (March 23, 1916), 1; "Prospects for Albion Hotel," Petersburg (Nebraska) Index (March 24, 1916), 8.

14. "Atlas Bank Architect Here," The Neligh (Nebraska) Register (December 17, 1917), 5; "Nearing Completion," The Neligh (Nebraska) Register (January 17, 1918), 5.

15. "School Board Contracts with Omaha Architect," Weekly Advertiser (Red Cloud, Nebraska) (January 5, 1917), 1; "...school paraphernalia is being moved into the new building...," Weekly Advertiser (Red Cloud, Nebraska) (January 4, 1918), 1.

16."To Decide Monday. Hotel Co. Officials to Return Then. Conditions Very Favorable. Architect Views Proposed Locations...," Cedar County News (Hartington, Nebraska) (May 18, 1916), 1.

17. "The Hartington Hotel, Banker Realty Investment Company, Architect and Builder," The Cedar County News (Hartington, Nebraska) (May 24, 1917), 7 (full-page, 14 photographs).

18. F. W. Fitzgerald, “Mid-West Building Activities,” The Architect and Engineer of California (March, 1918), 91-98.

19. "Country Banks in New Buildings," Bankers' Monthly (June 1918), 55.

Page Citation

E. F. Zimmer, “Percy Parke Lewis (1885-1962), Architect,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, December 9, 2022. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, May 15, 2024.

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