William H. Willcox
Encyclopedia
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(1850s-70), Chicago, Illinois (1871-ca. 1879), Nebraska (1879-82), St. Paul, Minnesota (1882-91), Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
(1891-95), Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
(1895-98) and San Francisco (1898-1912?).
Willcox's first appearance is as the designer of a "Suburban Octagonal Cottage" illustrated in plan and elevation in John Bullock, The American Cottage Builder: A Series of Designs, Plans, and Specifications (New York: Stringer & Townshend) 1854:239f; the design, which could be well executed in wood for about $1500, was described at length in Willcox's own words. In later life Willcox claimed to have been the uncredited architect of Grammar School 51 at 519 West 44th Street, New York City, built in 1858.
He served in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
with the 95th New York Infantry, December 1861 to September 1863, as a topographical engineer who prepared the well-known map of the battle of Antietam
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...
for Brig.-Gen. Abner Doubleday
Abner Doubleday
Abner Doubleday was a career United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War. He fired the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter, the opening battle of the war, and had a pivotal role in the early fighting at the Battle of Gettysburg. Gettysburg was his finest hour, but his...
, and reaching the rank of Lieutenant before he was released after Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
. After his release from service, in partnership with the well-known New York architect Gamaliel King
Gamaliel King
Gamaliel King was an American architect who practiced in New York City and the adjacent city of Brooklyn, where he was a major figure in Brooklyn civic and ecclesiastical architecture for several decades.His practice began as a "builder" in Brooklyn in the 1820s: in 1823 he and Joseph Moser were...
, he assisted in constructing the Kings County Savings Bank
Kings County Savings Bank
Kings County Savings Bank is a New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission-designated building in the Williamsburg, Brooklyn section of New York City. It is an example of French Second Empire-style architecture. Construction of the building began in 1860, to designs of William H...
in Williamsburgh, Brooklyn, built 1860-67.
Willcox relocated to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
by 1871, where he was briefly employed by Dankmar Adler
Dankmar Adler
Dankmar Adler was a celebrated German-born American architect.-Early years:...
. He opened his own office in Chicago by 1872, practicing in the city until 1879; from 1875 to 1877 he was a partner in the Chicago firm Willcox and Miller. After 1879 Willcox moved to Nebraska, where he remained through 1881. Willcox was architect of the Nebraska State Capitol building (1879-1882, destroyed), as well as several other institutional structures in Nebraska.
Willcox may have returned briefly to Chicago, but by 1882, he had relocated to St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1883 he designed the Cairo, Illinois
Cairo, Illinois
Cairo is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the county seat of Alexander County. Cairo is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The rivers converge at Fort Defiance State Park, an American Civil War fort that was commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant...
Public Library, described as a "Queen Anne style" structure of red pressed brick, with pale brick and terracotta details
Architectural terracotta
Terracotta, in its unglazed form, became fashionable as an architectural ceramic construction material in England in the 1860s, and in the United States in the 1870s. It was generally used to supplement brick and tiles of similar colour in late Victorian buildings.It had been used before this in...
., but most of his work was in smaller towns and cities in Minnesota and northern Wisconsin.
In 1884, Willcox published Hints to Those Who Propose to Build—Also a Description of Improved Plans for the Construction of Churches (St. Paul: Pioneer Press, 1884), which included a list of his most important projects to that date.
In 1886 Willcox entered a partnership with the younger Clarence H. Johnston, Sr.
Clarence H. Johnston, Sr.
Clarence H. Johnston Sr. was an American architect, active in Saint Paul and in Morris, Minnesota. In 1877, Johnston entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a special architectural student. Four years later, he went abroad, traveling in Europe and Asia Minor...
(1859-1936), whom he may have known in New York. Willcox and Johnston never received commercial commissions, but the partnership produced many notable buildings, including the "Summit Terrace" row (St. Paul), of which one was the F. Scott Fitzgerald House
F. Scott Fitzgerald House
The F. Scott Fitzgerald House, also known as Summit Terrace, in Saint Paul, Minnesota is part of a rowhouse designed by William H. Willcox and Clarence H. Johnston, Sr.. The house, at 599 Summit Avenue, is listed as a National Historic Landmark for its association with author F. Scott Fitzgerald...
(illustration, above right); the First Baptist Church (Chicago); the main building of Macalester College (St. Paul); the Mercantile Library (Peoria, IIllinois); and St. Peter's Protestant Episcopal Church, 1888 (Dayton's Bluff, St. Paul) Willcox and Johnston dissolved their partnership in 1890.
In 1891 Willcox relocated to Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, where he entered a partnership with the established Seattle architect William E. Boone
William E. Boone
William Boone was an American architect who practiced mainly in Seattle, Washington from 1882 until 1905. He was one of the founders of the Washington State chapter of the American Institute of Architects as well as its first president...
. Boone and Willcox supervised completion of the spectacular New York Building (1889-1892, demolished), which Boone had already designed. Boone and Willcox together were responsible for design of the J. M. Frink Building (Washington Iron Works Building/Washington Shoe Building) (1891-92), and the Plymouth Congregational Church (1891-92, destroyed)--this church likely reflects Willcox's extensive experience with church design in the Midwest. Boone and Willcox also prepared a plan for the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
campus in 1891, but construction never went forward. Boone and Willcox dissolved their partnership in June 1892. Willcox had less success on his own, and moved to Los Angeles in 1895 after the Panic of 1893
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
dried up architectural work in Seattle.
Willcox arrived in California and established a practice in Los Angeles, where directories list his offices at 345 Bradbury Block
Bradbury Building
The Bradbury Building is an architectural landmark in Los Angeles, California. The building was built in 1893 and is located at 304 South Broadway in downtown.-History:...
. In 1896 the architect Henry F. Starbuck
Henry F. Starbuck
Henry F. Starbuck was an American architect and a specialist in church architecture.-Early life and ancestors:Henry Fletcher Starbuck was born on March 1, 1850, in Nantucket, Massachusetts and died on August 21, 1935 at Decoto, Alameda County, California. He was the son of Henry Starbuck and...
, who later practiced in Fresno, maintained his Los Angeles office at the same address in the Bradbury Block. In 1896 Willcox entered a competition for the design of a new Kings County Courthouse
Kings County, California
Kings County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is located in a rich agricultural region. Kings County is also home to NAS Lemoore, which is the U.S. Navy's newest and largest master jet air station. The county seat is Hanford...
and was awarded the commission, though the Board asked the architect to revise his plans to eliminate a central dome and apply the cost savings to a ten-foot basement.
In 1898 Willcox was unsuccessful in a suit against the First Baptist Church of Los Angeles to recover design fees for a design submitted the previous year; shortly thereafter he relocated to San Francisco; from San Francisco he designed the public library for Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
, in 1904. After 1907, Willcox may have reduced his activities as an architect and practiced primarily as a surveyor. He retired from practice in San Francisco shortly before World War I.
Willcox was living at a Veterans Home of California Yountville
Veterans Home of California Yountville
The Veterans Home of California is located in Yountville, California and was founded in 1884. The facility is the largest of its kind in the United States and has a population of 1100 aged and disabled veterans of World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Desert Storm, and Operation Enduring...
in Yountville, California, when he died in 1929, shortly before his 97th birthday.