Edmond Jacques Eckel Explained

Edmond J. Eckel
Nationality:American
Birth Date:22 June 1845
Birth Place:Strasbourg, Alsace, France
Death Place:St. Joseph, Missouri
Awards:Fellow, American Institute of Architects (1889)

Edmond J. Eckel (June 22, 1845 – December 12, 1934) was an architect in practice in St. Joseph, Missouri, from 1872 until his death in 1934. In 1880 he was the founder of Eckel & Mann, later Eckel & Aldrich and Brunner & Brunner, which was the oldest architectural firm in Missouri prior to its eventual dissolution in 1999.

Life and career

Edmond Jacques Eckel was born June 22, 1845, in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, to Jacques Eckel, a manufacturer, and Louise Elizabeth Caroline (Schweighaeuser) Eckel. He was educated at what is now the Jean Sturm Gymnasium and studied architecture under the city architect of Strasbourg.[1] In 1863 he moved to Paris to continue his education and studied in the Beaux-Arts ateliers of Alexis Paccard and Léon Vaudoyer. He was admitted to the second, or junior, class of the Ecole de Beaux-Arts in 1866 but left without graduating in 1868.[2] Eckel then immigrated to the United States and lived first in New York City and Cleveland. In 1869 he decided to move on to Kansas City, Missouri, but a railroad layover in St. Joseph, about fifty miles north of Kansas City, prompted him to stay and settle.[1] He worked as a drafter for local architects Patrick F. Meagher and Stigers & Boettner before briefly opening his own office in 1872. He returned to Stigers & Boettner in 1874 as a junior partner and in 1877, upon the retirement of the senior partner, a full partner in Boettner & Eckel.[3]

In 1880 Boettner and Eckel dissolved their partnership, and Eckel formed a new firm, Eckel & Mann, with George R. Mann, a former employee of Boettner & Eckel.[1] Circa 1888 they were joined by Harvey Ellis, an itinerant designer from Rochester, New York. Ellis excerted a large influence on his employers and has been credited with the design of the German-American Bank Building (1889) and had a part in the firm's competition-winning design for the St. Louis City Hall. Mann and Ellis moved to St. Louis to manage the project, and Eckel and Mann dissolved their partnership in 1892. Eckel briefly formed the partnership of Eckel & van Brunt with John van Brunt, an architect from Kansas City, but this was dissolved within a few months.[3] Eckel then worked as a sole practitioner until 1908, when he formed the partnership of Eckel & Boschen with Walter Boschen, a young architect from New York City. This was dissolved in 1910 and Eckel formed another partnership, Eckel & Aldrich, with George R. Eckel, his son, and Will S. Aldrich, a former employee of McKim, Mead & White.[1] [3] In 1920 Eckel stepped down as the firm's senior partner, but he remained involved in the firm's projects until his death in 1934.[4] [3]

Eckel joined the Western Association of Architects (WAA) in 1885 as a fellow. When the WAA was merged into the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1889, Eckel became a fellow of the AIA.[5] In 1912 he was a founder of the short-lived St. Joseph Society of Architects and served as its first president.[6]

Personal life

Eckel was married in 1875 to Minnie Louise Schroers in St. Joseph. They had four children: Edmond George Eckel, Minnie Albertine (Eckel) Agnew, Elvie Emilie (Eckel) Forgrave and George Robert Eckel. His home, built in St. Joseph in 1885, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 but has been demolished. He was a member of the Masons, the Elks, the Benton Club and the St. Joseph Country Club. Eckel died December 12, 1934, in St. Joseph at the age of 89.[1]

Legacy

During his career Eckel was the leading architect in St. Joseph and was well-known throughout the state and the region.[1] During a career spanning over sixty years, Eckel was responsible for major works in the eclectic styles of the Gilded Age. He embraced the revival of Neoclassical architecture brought on by the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 and was thereafter responsible for a number of works informed by his Beaux-Arts education, including the Livestock Exchange Building (1899), the St. Joseph Public Library (1902) and the St. Joseph City Hall (1927), among others.[3] In 1912 Eckel & Aldrich were the only Missouri architects invited to participate in the second competition to design the Missouri State Capitol, and in 1927 were again the only Missourians invited to participate in a similar competition for the Milwaukee County Courthouse.[7]

Eckel's firm outlived his death by over sixty years. Eckel & Aldrich continued under the leadership of Aldrich and the younger Eckel until their deaths in 1947 and 1959, respectively. In 1960 the firm was reorganized as Brunner & Brunner by their associate, Otto Brunner (1896–1974), and his son William A. Brunner (1930–2014). When Brunner & Brunner was dissolved in 1999 it was the oldest architectural firm in practice in Missouri. The firm's assets were acquired by River Bluff Architects, who in 2008 donated Eckel and Brunner's papers to the St. Joseph Museums, where several of Eckel's drawings are exhibited. River Bluff Architects suspended practice and was administratively dissolved by the State of Missouri in 2022.[8]

A number of Eckel's and the firms' works are listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places, with various spelling errors.

Architectural works

Stigers, Boettner & Company, 1874–1877

Boettner & Eckel, 1877–1880

Eckel & Mann, 1880–1892

Eckel & van Brunt, 1892

Edmond J. Eckel, 1892–1910

Eckel & Boschen, 1908–1910

Eckel & Aldrich, 1910–1959

See also

Notes and References

  1. "Eckel, Edmond Jacques" in The National Cyclopedia of American Biography 41 (New York: James T. White & Company, 1956): 324-325.
  2. E. Delaire, Les Architectes: Élèves de l'École des Beaux-Arts (Paris: Librairie de la Construction Moderne, 1907): 254.
  3. Toni M. Prawl, "Eckel, Edmond Jacques (1845–1934)" in Dictionary of Missouri Biography, ed. Lawrence O. Christensen, William E. Foley, Gary R. Kremer and Kenneth H. Winn (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999): 372-373.
  4. "Eckel, George R." in Who's Who in the Midwest (Chicago: A. N. Marquis Company, 1949): 387.
  5. "Edmond J. Eckel (1845-1934)," AIA Historical Directory of American Architects, no date. Accessed April 14, 2023.
  6. "St. Joseph Architects Organize" in Construction News 34, no. 9 (November 9, 1912): 8.
  7. “Honor Accorded A St. Joseph Firm: Eckel & Aldrich Asked to Submit Plans for Six Million Dollar Structure,” The St. Joseph Observer, Feb. 24, 1927, pg. 1.
  8. Missouri corporation records
  9. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818399 St. Joseph's Commerce and Banking Historic District NRHP Registration Form
  10. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63816986 Museum Hill Historic District NRHP Registration Form
  11. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818363 Wholesale Row NRHP Registration Form
  12. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818365 Hall Street Historic District NRHP Registration Form
  13. http://www.courthouses.co/us-states/m/missouri/atchison-county/ Atchison County
  14. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63819859 Nodaway County Courthouse NRHP Registration Form
  15. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818937 Hamilton House
  16. http://www.courthouses.co/us-states/h-l/iowa/ringgold-county/ Ringgold County
  17. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818849 Gentry County Courthouse NRHP Registration Form
  18. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818765 DeKalb County Courthouse NRHP Registration Form
  19. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818357 Edmond Jacques Eckel House
  20. http://www.shakespearechateau.com/ Nathan Phipps and Elmarine Ogden Mansion
  21. http://www.courthouses.co/us-states/h-l/iowa/pottawattamie-county/ Pottawattamie County
  22. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63817012 South Fourth Street Commercial Historic District NRHP Registration Form
  23. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63816984 Virginia Flats NRHP Registration Form
  24. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818373 German-American Bank Building
  25. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63816970 Kemper Addition Historic District NRHP Registration Form
  26. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818409 Central Police Station NRHP Registration Form
  27. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63817014 Central-North Commercial Historic District NRHP Registration Form
  28. "Out Illustrations" in Inland Architect and News Record 29, no. 4 (May, 1892): 52.
  29. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63817004 Krug Park Place Historic District NRHP Registration Form
  30. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818397 Livestock Exchange Building NRHP Registration Form
  31. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63816978 City Hose Company No. 9 NRHP Registration Form
  32. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818847 Samuel and Pauline Peery House NRHP Registration Form
  33. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818379 St. Joseph Public Library NRHP Registration Form
  34. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818371 Miller-Porter-Lacy House NRHP Registration Form
  35. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818393 St. Joseph Public Library-Carnegie Branch NRHP Registration Form
  36. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818853 Albany Carnegie Public Library NRHP Registration Form
  37. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818375 Robidoux School NRHP Registration Form
  38. Web site: National Register of Historic Places Listings. 2014-07-03. Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 6/16/14 through 6/27/14. National Park Service.
  39. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63816980 St. Joseph City Hall NRHP Registration Form
  40. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818403 Corby–Forsee Building NRHP Registration Form
  41. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63816996 Patee Town Historic District NRHP Registration Form

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