Landmarks Commission

Cleveland Architects

Cleveland Architect Database

The Cleveland Architects Database is a listing of architects and master builders that have worked in Cleveland, since the 1820s and the buildings they designed here and abroad up to and including the 1970s. Sources include City of Cleveland Building Permits, professional publications including American Architect and Builder News, Inland Architect, Interstate Architect, the Ohio Architect and Builder, the Annals of Cleveland, the Plain Dealer, the Leader, the Press, Material Facts, the Bystander, and Cleveland Town Topics. Additional source material reviewed at the Cleveland Public Library Fine Arts Department, various books on Cleveland architecture, the American Institute of Architects Guide to Cleveland Architecture and a catalogue of architectural drawings maintained by the Western Reserve Historical Society were consulted. The Cleveland Necrology file maintained by the Cleveland Public Library, the United States Census, and Cleveland City Directories were reviewed in compiling accompanying biographies.

For this database, an architect is defined as anyone that identified himself or herself as an architect. Generally, these people had an office in the city or designed multiple structures here or in the immediate surrounding cities. This project began as a hobby by Robert Keiser over several years. Craig Bobby has researched many of the entries and donated photographs of those buildings. This is an ongoing project and will be updated on a regular basis. PLEASE NOTE: All entries have not been fully researched and require citations. Please confirm any unsourced entry

Architects

Birth / Established: February 11, 1852
Death / Dissolved: May 10, 1928

Biography

Harry Sylvester Nelson began work as a draftsman in the firm of Coburn & Barnum. He would later work for the firm of F. S. Barnum & Company. He was one of the principles of Briggs and Nelson when it was formed in 1905. He lived at 2607 Church Street, later moving to 1894 East 82nd Street.

Sources

Cleveland City Directories
Orth, Samuel A History of Cleveland v. 2 p .573
Withey & Withey Biographical Dictionary of American Architects Los Angeles : Hennessey & Ingalls - 1970, p 75

Birth / Established: April 12, 1866
Death / Dissolved: January 23, 1960

Biography

William H. Nicklas was born in New Philadelphia, Ohio and graduated from Ohio Northern University. He was a principal at New Philadelphia High School. In the 1894 Architect's Directory he was listed as an architect with an office in New Philadelphia. He moved to Cleveland in 1897 and worked in Sidney Badgley's office as a draftsman, later becoming a partner in the firm. He continued a practice that was strong in church architecture after Badgley's death, designing many churches and schools in Greater Cleveland and beyond. He was a charter member of Acacia Country Club, a member of the Downtown Kiwanis Club, the City Club, and the Chamber of Commerce. He would form a partnership with Jess Rodrick later in his career.

Building Name Address Built Status
School - 10 rooms Olmsted Falls, OH 1915 Unknown
Bay Village High School Addition Bay Village, OH 1917 Unknown
Grade School Building for Village of South Newburgh (Valley View Town Hall) 6848 Hathaway Road, Valley View, OH 1917 Standing
Pioneer High School Pioneer, OH 1917 Unknown
Rocky River High School Rocky River, OH 1917 Unknown
Elementary School Solon, OH 1918 Demolished
School Turney Road Near Garfield Park, Newburg, OH 1918 Demolished
Shore High School addition 291 E. 222nd Street, Euclid, OH 1918 Standing
Broadway Methodist Church 5246 Broadway, Cleveland, OH 1918-19 Standing
Kunkle High School Kunkle, OH 1919 Unknown
Shore High School addition 291 East 222nd Street, Euclid, OH 1920 Standing
Trinity Methodist Church 214 East Jefferson Street, Sandusky, OH 1920 Standing
Shore High School addition 291 East 222nd Street Euclid, Euclid, OH 1922 Standing
Third Christian Church 303 34th Street, Norfolk, VA 1922 Standing
Second Presbyterian Church (now Church of the Covenant) 267 East Beau Street, Washington, PA 1929 Standing
Shaw Central Heating Plant East Cleveland, East Cleveland, OH n.d. Demolished
Shaw Technical High School East Cleveland, East Cleveland, OH n.d. Demolished
South Euclid School Cleveland, OH n.d. Unknown
Trinity Episcopal Church 122 Third Street, New Philadelphia, OH n.d. Standing

Sources

Ohio Architect November 1940

Birth / Established: December 29, 1896
Death / Dissolved: May 8, 1973

Biography

Maxwell Norcross was born in Lennoxville, Quebec. He attended Bishops College in Sherbrooke, Quebec and served in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War I. He was an architect in Cleveland from 1923 to 1970 and a member of the Shaker Heights architectural board. He was an architect for the Van Swearingen Company and was a consultant for Moreland Hills and Pepper Pike. He was listed as a registered architect in the November 1940 Ohio Architect.

Building Name Address Built Status
Residence 2963 Montgomery Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1923 Standing
Edward Goldberg Residence 16600 Parkland Drive, Shaker Heights, OH 1926 Standing
Residence for Earl Oyer 3144 Huntington Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1926 Standing
Residence for George Quarm 19101 Shelburne Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1926 Standing
Residence for George Quarm 19111 Shelburne Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1926 Standing
Residence for George Quarm - 15101 Shelburne Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1927 Unknown
Residence for George W. Quarm 19601 Shelburne Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1927 Standing
Hoyt E. Hayes Residence 19001 Shelburne Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1928 Standing
Carl R. Lee Residence Shaker Boulevard, Shaker Heights, OH 1929 Standing
Commercial Building for L.A. Sommer Mayfield Road West of Noble Road, Cleveland, OH 1929 Unknown
Dr. W. W. Hurst Residence Invermere Drive, Shaker Heights, OH 1929 Unknown
G. Seaton Wasser Residence Remodeling Eagle Road, Kirtland, OH 1929 Unknown
Hoyt Adams Residence Shelburne Road, Cleveland, OH 1929 Unknown
Myron Watkins Residence 2679 Belvoir Boulevard, Cleveland Heights, OH 1929 Standing
R. D. Whitney Residence Belvoir Boulevard, Cleveland Heights, OH 1929 Unknown
Residence 3307 Somerset Drive, Beachwood, OH 1929 Standing
Residence Severn Park bordering Taylor Road, Cleveland, OH 1929 Unknown
Residence for George Noracher South Woodland Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1929 Unknown
Residence for George Quarm Belvoir Boulevard near Shelburne Road, Cleveland, OH 1929 Unknown
Robert S. Wilson Residence Delaware Road, Akron, OH 1929 Unknown
Residence for T.B. Morrison 3119 Ludlow Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1930 Standing
Linday H. Wallace Residence 22040 McCauley Road, Cleveland, OH 1931 Unknown
David A. Weitz Residence 17814 Parkland Drive, Shaker Heights, OH 1933 Standing
David Dietz Residence 2891 Winthop, Shaker Heights, OH 1935 Standing
Residence for Olson and Johnson 2918 Huntington Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1935 Standing
Residence 2731 Sherbrooke Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1936 Standing
Residence for the Model Building Company 17815 Shaker Boulevard, Shaker Heights, OH 1936 Standing
Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Bernet Residence 18801 South Park Boulevard, Shaker heights, OH 1937 Standing
Gorden Fristor Residence 1295 Inglewood Drive, Cleveland Heights, OH 1941 Standing
Apartments 12800 - 12950 Fairhill Parkway, Cleveland, OH 1944 Unknown
Dr. and Mrs. S.B. Abrams Residence 17200 South Park, Shaker Heights, OH 1948 Standing
Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Mandel Residence 16801 Aldersyde Drive, Shaker Heights, OH 1948 Standing
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Aghajanian Residence 17700 South Woodland Road, Shaker Heights, OH 1951 Standing
C.B. McDonald Residence 14907 Shaker Boulevard, Shaker Heights, OH 1954 Standing
Cleveland Society for the Blind Lodge Geauga County, OH 1956 Unknown
Grasselli Chapel Ohio 1960 Unknown
Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Long Residence 17701 Shaker Boulevard, Shaker Heights, OH 1960 Standing
R.B. Shreve Residence 2842 Winthop, Shaker Heights, OH 1966 Standing
Shaker Lakes Nature Center 2600 South Park, Shaker Heights, OH 1969 Standing

Sources

Architectural Forum July 1938 v69:38 - "Plan of Prized House"
Building Arts and Construction - Feb 1931 "New Architectural Form is announced"
Campen, Richard - Distinguished Homes of Shaker Heights, 1992
Cleveland City Directories
Plain Dealer 5.9.1973