Difference between revisions of "William H. Willcox (1832-1929), Architect"

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William H. Willcox was born on May 26, 1832 in Brooklyn, New York City. He was an architect and surveyor with a background in topographical engineering gained during the Civil War, drawing maps for the Union Army. According to the Wikipedia article on him, he began practice in the 1850s in New York State, and practiced continuously until around the 1910s. Wilcox was a peripatetic architect who worked his way across the country, from New York to Chicago, St. Paul, Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. When he designed the second capitol for Nebraska, he was working out of Chicago.[3][a] He died at a Veterans Home in Yountville, California on February 1, 1929. [5]

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.

Second Nebraska State Capitol, 1879 (Nebraska State Historical Society)

Educational & Professional Associations

1881: architect, Chicago, Illinois. [6]

1882: architect, Chicago, Illinois & Washington Territory. [6]

Buildings & Projects

Second Nebraska State Capitol (1879), 15th & J, Lincoln, Nebraska.[1][2][b]

St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church (1883-1885), Lincoln, Nebraska.[4]

First Presbyterian Church (n.d.), Clinton, Iowa. [4]

Episcopal Church (n.d.), Emmetsburg, Iowa. [4]

State Journal Building (n.d.), Lincoln, Nebraska. [4]

State Reform School (n.d.), Kearney, Nebraska. [4]

Notes

a. The Wikipedia article [3] has him practicing in Nebraska, 1879-1882, but he does not appear in either the business or individual sections of Lincoln city directories from 1878-1882.

b. Local sources consistently refer to the architect as B. H. Wilcox.[1][2][original citation needs identification]

References

1. Oliver, Richard. Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (American Monograph Series, ed. Robert A. M. Stern). New York: The Architectural History Foundation, and Cambridge & London: The M.I.T. Press, 1983, p. 184.

2. Pollak, Oliver B., Nebraska Courthouses: Contention, Compromise, and Community. (Images of America Series) Chicago: Arcadia Publishing, 2002, p. 11. [725.1.P771n]

3. Anon. “William H. Wilcox,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. February 17, 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Willcox Accessed June 5, 2012.

4. William H. Wilcox, Hints to Those Who Propose to Build, (St. Paul, Minnesota: The Pioneer Press Publishing Company, 1884).

5. “Willcox, William H.” Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994), 354.

6. Minnesota Missionary vol. 1 (August 1881).

7. Minnesota Missionary vol. 5 (June 1882).

Other Sources

John Bullock, The American Cottage Builder: A Series of Designs, Plans, and Specifications. (New York: Stringer & Townshend, 1854), 239f.[3]

Ira L. Bare and Will H. McDonald. Illustrated History of Lincoln County, Nebraska and Her People. (Chicago and New York: American Historical Society, 1920), 375-376.

A. E. Sheldon, Semi-Centennial History of Nebraska: Historical Sketch (Lincoln: Lemon Publishing, 1904).

Page Citation

D. Murphy, “William H. Willcox (1832-1929), Architect,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, December 6, 2016. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, April 28, 2024.

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