William N. Bowman Company, Architects

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Denver, Colorado, 1910-1944

DBA: W. N. Bowman, William N. Bowman Company

William Norman Bowman was born March 12, 1869 at Carthage, New York. His formal schooling was cut short at age 11 when he went to work in a woolen mill to help support his family. As a youth he worked in the office of E. E. Myers in Detroit as well as apprenticing with a carpenter. He worked for other architects in Detroit and Indianapolis, then married Alice May Kniffen in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1899.[1] He was listed as an architect in Grand Rapids in 1900.[2] He founded a building and architecture firm in Indianapolis, then took a position with an iron works in Cincinnati from 1902-1908. With Alice he moved to Denver and founded William N. Bowman Company, an architecture firm, by 1910. Bowman's practice became a leading Denver firm, with a focus on public buildings, in Colorado and surrounding states including Nebraska.[1] Alice died in 1943 and William in 1944. Both were interred at Fairmount Cemetery died in Denver.[3]

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

None.

Educational & Professional Associations

"Entry-level" employee at architectural office of E. E. Myers, Detroit, Michigan.[1]

1888: Draughtsman, Spier & Rohns, architects, Detroit, Michigan.[10]

1889: Draughtsman, Mortimer L. Smith & Son, architects, Detroit, Michigan.[1][10]

1890-1892: Architect with Thurtle, Fleming and Co., architects & superintendents, Indianapolis & Jackson, Indiana.[1][11][d]

1893-1894, 1898: Architect, Indianapolis, Indiana.[11][d]

1896: Architect & partner, McPherson (William R.) & Bowman, Indianapolis, Indiana.[[#References}[11]]]

1899: Partner, Rush, Bowman & Rush, builders, Indianapolis, Indiana & Grand Rapids, Michigan.[1][11]

1900: architect, Grand Rapids, Michigan.[2][12]

ca. 1901-1902: architect, Indianapolis, Indiana.[1]

1902-1908: agent for Stewart Iron Works, Cincinnati, Ohio.[1]

1910: architect, Denver, Colorado.[5]

1911: architect and partner, Bowman & Berk, Architects, Denver, Colorado.[4][5][a]

1912-1944: architect and principal, William N. Bowman Company, Denver, Colorado.[1][5]

Nebraska Buildings & Projects

McCookYMCA.jpg
McCook Y. M. C. A. (Postcard view)

As agent for Stewart Iron Works, jail fixtures for Cheyenne County (1912), Sidney, Nebraska.[6][b]

On county commissioners' "short list" (but not chosen) for Box Butte County Courthouse (1913), Alliance, Nebraska.[7][c]

Scotts Bluff County Courthouse (1919-1921), Gering, Nebraska.[8]

McCook Y. M. C. A. (1925-1926), 424 Norris Avenue, McCook, Nebraska.[1][9]

Notes

a. Denver City Directory of 1911 lists Bowman & Berk as W. N. Bowman and H. A. Gustav Berk, architects.[2][4]

b. Bowman corresponded with Cheyenne County commissioners in 1912 regarding a balance due to the Stewart Iron Company for "jail fixtures." Bowman requested that warrants issued to him as agent for the iron works be cancelled, and that warrants be reissued directly to Stewart Iron Works for the remaining balance of $2,950.[6]

c. The county commissioners of Box Butte County traveled to interview three architectural firms and to view the firms' works, prior to selecting an architect for the Box Butte County Courthouse. They visited Berlinghof & Davis of Lincoln and W. N. Bowman Company of Denver before choosing Rose & Peterson of Kansas City, Kansas.[7]

d. Thurtle, Fleming & Co. were architects and superintendents in Indianapolis, with a branch in Jackson, Indiana. The 1890 Detroit city directory notes that William N. Bowman had "removed" to Jackson, Indiana. The 1890 Indianapolis directory lists Bowman among the architects in the firm, but is ambiguous as to whether he had a special connection to the Jackson branch office. In 1891 and 1892, the Indianapolis firm was listed simply as Thurtle & Co. Bowman was listed independently in 1893 and 1894, with his own advertisement in the business directories.[10][11]

References

1. Carl McWilliams, Cultural Resources Historians, "McCook Y.M.C.A." nomination to the National Register of Historic Places (1999), accessed June 19, 2021, https://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/redwillow/RW05-015_YMCA_Bldg.pdf

2. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line], s.v. "William N. Bowman." Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2004.

3. Ancestry.com. U. S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line], s. v. "William N. Bowman." Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2012.

4. Denver City Directory (1911), 228.

5. Joan Palmer and Ilene Bergsmann, comps. Architects of Colorado: Database of State Business Directory Listings, 1875-1950 (Denver: Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, Colorado Historical Society, October, 2006), 4, accessed June 17, 2021, https://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/media/document/2017/Architects_Colorado_Database.pdf

6. In "Commissioners' Proceedings," The Lodge Pole (Nebraska) Express (October 26, 1912), 4.

7. "Rose & Peterson of Kansas City Selected as Architects for New County Courthouse--County Commissioners Take This Action Thursday After Their Trip of Inspection in Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Colorado," Alliance (Nebraska) Times Herald (April 11, 1913), 1.

8. "Architects Interested--Want to Furn[i]sh Plans for New Court House in Gering," The Gering (Nebraska) Midwest (May 15, 1919), 8; Brief mention of Bowman refining courthouse plans in preparation for soliciting bids in The Gering Midwest (February 20, 1920), 5; "Out of the Old and into the New--New Court House Formally Accepted and County Officials Are Now Doing Business Therein...Is Admittedly one of the Best and Handsomest Public Structures in All Nebraska," The Gering Midwest (November 18, 1921), 1.

9. "Building Committee Appointed for 'Y. M.'," The McCook (Nebraska) Daily Gazette (February 24, 1925), 1; "Drawings and Plans for New Y. M. C. A.," The McCook Daily Gazette (March 12, 1925), 1.

10. Detroit, Michigan city directories, 1888-1890.

11. Indianapolis, Indiana city directories, 1890-1892, 1894, 1896, 1898, 1899.

12, Grand Rapids city directory, 1900.

Page Citation

E. F. Zimmer, “William N. Bowman Company, Architects,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, June 26, 2021. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, March 29, 2024.


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