J. Milton Dyer - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

J. Milton Dyer was a prominent Cleveland, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

Background

Dwyer was born in Middletown, Pennsylvania

Middletown, Pennsylvania

Middletown is the name of more than one location in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania:*Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania: 17057, of the Harrisburg metropolitan area*Middletown, Northampton County, Pennsylvania: 18017...

where his father had a hardware business. In 1881 his family moved to the Rock's Corners area (near East 55th and Woodland Avenue) and Dyer attended Central High School, worked for Brown Hoisting where he earned a scholarship to Case Institute of Technology.

Professional career

He worked for Warner & Swasey (Ambrose Swasey

Ambrose Swasey

Ambrose Swasey was an American mechanical engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, manager, astronomer, and philanthropist. With Worcester R. Warner he co-founded the Warner & Swasey Company....

and Worcester R. Warner's firm) for several years, and Frank Walker

Walker and Weeks

Walker and Weeks was an architecture firm based in Cleveland, Ohio founded by Frank Ray Walker and Harry F. Weeks .-Background:...

, Henry Weeks, and Reynold Hinsdale

Reynold Hinsdale

Reynold Hinsdale was an American architect.Hinsdale was born and educated in Utica, New York and received his architectural training at the New York School of Art. He was associated with the firm of Clinton & Russell in New York City before coming to Cleveland about 1904. He is believed to have...

worked in his office. The Architectural Record published a 1906 feature that noted him as an example of professionally educated architects moving to smaller cities.

Dyer was a member of Cleveland's Tavern Club

Tavern Club (Cleveland, Ohio)

The Tavern Club is private social club in the Central neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Its home is a building designed by architect J. Milton Dyer in a Northern Renaissance style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It was also designated as a landmark by the...

, established 1892-93, and designed a building for the group when it moved from a leased property at 968 Prospect Street to its present building on 1 January 1905. "The exterior construction and the traditional interior decor of the building" have remained essentially the same since the club's beginning. He designed several buildings on Cleveland's Euclid Avenue.

Spirit of Progress

J. Milton Dyer was selected as the architect for an exhibition of Cleveland products staged in 1909 called the Spirit of Progress. Erected in 47 days (March 30-May 24), the Exposition Building is said to have had "a larger ground floor exhibit area than any other exposition structure in the United States" with 72030 square feet (6,691.8 m²) as well as the area of an armory and a bridge connecting the two buildings, for "a grand total of 114,656 square feet, a space greatly in excess of that of any previous home product exhibition".

The building included "wood covered with staff, and the fireproofed and waterproofed canvas roof is supported by three huge masts mounted on structural iron supports which are anchored to thirty-ton blocks of iron-weighted concrete. From these supports quarter-poles are extended, adding strength to the network of steel cables that holds the roof. At the west of the main building is a Pompeiian garden of novel design and with original features." The interior walls were covered with white bunting and "fountains, statuary, flowers, and shrubbery" used for effect. Dwyer designed two massive statues that were carried out by sculptor Herman Matzen

Herman Matzen

Herman Matzen American sculptor and educator, born in Denmark.-Early years:Matzen studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin before immigrating to the United States...

placed in the approach to the exhibition.

Promotion was carried out by: "One million Exposition gum seals, more than 1700 monthly proof-sheets, 25,000 invitation booklets, and 100,000 postcards were printed and circulated; and 15,000 posters and window cards were distributed locally and through all cities and towns within a radius of 200 miles. A slogan competition drew out 3,000 participants." A souvenir book of the Exposition contained a directory of the exhibitors, a "classified" list of Cleveland manufacturers, and "other matter pertaining to local industries". Entertainment included the "best" local bands, J. Powell Jones and the boy chorus of 500, and "other features of a high class character".

Personal life

Dwyer lived with his mother on East 71st Street, until she died in 1923, and he never married. After his mother died he lived with his sister until she died in 1954. He is buried in Woodland Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio.

Selected works

(Believed to be still in existence unless otherwise noted)

Anderson Hall/ Asheville School (1899) Asheville, North Carolina
George Kuhlman Car Company (1901) Cleveland
Republic Oil Company (1901) Cleveland
Herrick Memorial Library (1902) Wellington, Ohio
Wellington, Ohio
Wellington is a village in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,511 at the 2000 census.-History:Wellington was settled in 1818 by Ephraim Wilcox, Charles Sweet, William T. Welling, John Clifford, and Joseph Wilson from the states of Massachusetts and New York...

(enlarged after banker Myron T. Herrick gave an additional bequest)
First Methodist Church
First Methodist Church (Cleveland, Ohio)
First Methodist Church is a historic church in the Central neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio.Located on the southeast corner of E.30th Street and Euclid Avenue, the church was built in 1905 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.-References:...

(1903–04), 3000 Euclid Ave.
Brooklyn Bank Building (1904) 3764 West 25th Street Cleveland /Farnsworth Building (Brooklyn Savings and Loan), 3764-70 Pearl Rd.
Windermere Presbyterian Church East Cleveland
Guardian Trust Building (1904-demolished) 322-326 Euclid Avenue
Tavern Club, Cleveland (1904/1905) 3522 Prospect Avenue Cleveland
First Methodist Church, Cleveland (1905) 3000 Euclid Avenue Cleveland
Peerless Motor Car factory (1906 demolished)
Summit County Courthouse (1906–1908) 209 South High Street Akron, Ohio
Westminster Presbyterian Church
Westminster Presbyterian Church
Westminster Presbyterian Church may refer to:*Westminster Presbyterian Church of Australia*Westminster Presbyterian Church in the United States*Westminster Presbyterian Church *Westminster Presbyterian Church...

(1907)
Taylor's Department Store and Arcade (1907)
1574 East 108th Street residence (1908) Cleveland
Ferris Residence Cleveland (1909)
11101 Magnolia Drive Residence (1909) Cleveland
Swassey Observatory (1909)Granville, Ohio
Granville, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,167 people, 1,309 households, and 888 families residing in the village. The population density was 790.4 people per square mile . There were 1,384 housing units at an average density of 345.4 per square mile...
Spirit of Progress (1909 exhibition)
Cleveland Music School Settlement (E. S. Burke House), 11125 Magnolia Dr. (1909)
11125 Magnolia Drive residence (1910) Cleveland
M.T. Silver Company (1911) Cleveland
Cleveland Athletic Club
Cleveland Athletic Club
The Cleveland Athletic Club is a historic organization in a historic building designed by J. Milton Dyer. The club was in financial difficulaty in 2007....

(1911)
Reserve Terminals 1300 East 45th Street, Cleveland
U.S. Treasury San Francisco Building (1915) 301 Pine Street San Francisco, California
Cleveland City Hall (1911–1916) 601 Lakeside Ave., NE
Premier Industries (1920) 4409 Euclid Avenue Cleveland
Coast Guard Station, Cleveland
Whiskey Island (Cleveland)
Whiskey Island is a peninsula at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River at Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio. Its current configuration was created in 1827 when the river's mouth was moved to its present location. The western half of Whiskey Island is occupied by the Cleveland Bulk Terminal and the eastern...

(1940) 1 Lake Erie/ United States Coast Guard Cleveland Harbor Station, 1000 Cuyahoga River
Cooley Farms North of Warrensville Heights off Ohio 175, Warrensville Heights, Ohio
East Point Manor South Shore Drive, Middle Bass Island
Middle Bass Island
Middle Bass Island is an island of the U.S. state of Ohio, located in Lake Erie. A small town, Middle Bass, lies on the island. The 805-acre island is shaped like the Big Dipper and is one of three Bass Islands located at the center of a group of 23 smaller islands.Some of its more famous...

, Ohio
Edward W. and Louise C. Moore Estate 7960 Garfield Rd. Mentor, Ohio
Mentor, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 50,278 people, 18,797 households, and 14,229 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,878.2 people per square mile . There were 19,301 housing units at an average density of 721.0 per square mile...
Jay M. Pickands House 9619 Lake Shore Blvd Bratenahl, Ohio
Bratenahl, Ohio
Bratenahl is a wealthy village in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is bordered by the city of Cleveland on three sides and by the shoreline of Lake Erie to the north. The population was 1,197 at the 2010 census...
Lake County Courthouse, Painesville Ohio, sculpture by Herman Matzen
Herman Matzen
Herman Matzen American sculptor and educator, born in Denmark.-Early years:Matzen studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin before immigrating to the United States...
Central National Bank (demolished) Cleveland
First National Bank (demolished) Cleveland
Venice Building 8401—8417 Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio

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