Elmer H. Fisher Explained

Elmer H. Fisher
Birth Date: in Scotland or in Royalston, Massachusetts, US
Death Place:Los Angeles, California, United States
Significant Buildings:Pioneer Building
Austin A. Bell Building

Elmer H. Fisher (or  - 1905) was an architect best known for his work during the rebuilding of the American city of Seattle after it was devastated by fire in 1889. He began his career as a carpenter and migrated from Massachusetts to the Pacific Northwest, where he practiced architecture from 1886 to 1891. After his reputation was damaged by litigation and personal scandal in Seattle, he relocated to Los Angeles in 1893, where he only had modest success as an architect before returning to carpentry, dying around 1905 with his final years almost as mysterious as his early years; the details of his death and his burial location remain unknown. His commercial building designs played a major role in reshaping Seattle architecture in the late 19th century and many still survive as part of the Pioneer Square Historic District.

Life

Fisher claimed he was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1840 and immigrated to Massachusetts at age 17 where he received an architectural apprenticeship in Worcester; this has yet to be substantiated by research and much conflicting information exists, most of it from coming from Fisher himself.[1] In the 1870s he moved west to Minnesota, where he first appeared in the 1874 Minneapolis City Directory as a cabinet maker,[2] the following year as a sash maker for R.P. Russell & Co.,[3] and the year after as a moulder for Smith, Parker & Co.[4] He continued his journey west, arriving in Denver, Colorado, around 1880 where after first working as a foreman for a sash & door factory,[5] began trading as an architect as well as a carpenter and builder with partner J.H. Corrin until his departure from that city in 1885.[6] [7]

After a brief residency in Butte, Montana,[8] Fisher arrived in the Pacific Northwest in early 1886 where he established an architectural office in Victoria, British Columbia. Business in the booming city was brisk and within a year he had multiple substantial business buildings and homes to his credit and began receiving commissions further afield in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Port Townsend, Washington.[1] Around this time he received his first major commissions in Seattle including the first Korn Block (1888, Destroyed) and 1st Regiment Army Hall (1888, Demolished), giving him a foothold in the competitive architectural scene there. In early 1888 Fisher established two partnerships in order to balance his workload between Victoria and Seattle; one with George Clark in Seattle as Fisher & Clark and one with William Ridgeway Wilson in Victoria as Fisher & Wilson. With the growth and size of projects in Seattle greatly outpacing those in Victoria, Fisher decided to end his partnerships by the new year, and consolidated operations to his Seattle office where he began overseeing many large projects including the Austin A. Bell Building, the Gilmore & Kirkman Building and Henry Yesler's Pioneer Building. By early 1889 Fisher employed four draughtsmen at his James Street office and was so busy that all small-scale and residential commissions were turned away.[9]

While the first few months of 1889 were some of Fisher's busiest, he and every other hopeful architect in the city would be given a clean slate when the Great Seattle fire of June 6, 1889, wiped out the majority of the business district. Many of Fisher's recent commissions were either outside of the burnt district or were only in the excavation stages at the time of the fire and despite common belief, many of his most famous buildings would have been built whether Seattle burned or not. Regardless, new commissions in the wake of the fire were numerous to the degree that several pre-fire commissions were halted or left un-built due to the glut of new construction.[10] He is still considered the most prolific of the architects involved in rebuilding the city for designing almost half of the major downtown buildings between 1889 and 1890.Fisher began 1891 with an impressive list of buildings to his credit but large commissions became scarce as the economy began to cool. Besides finishing several buildings begun the previous year and repairing settling damage to an existing building, there were no new projects and Fisher turned to buying and selling real estate to supplement his income.[11] Then in June 1891 Fisher was publicly accused of embezzlement by business associate and mill owner Fred Woodaman.[12] Claiming to be owed a large amount by Fisher, Woodaman began spreading rumors that Fisher was cheating his creditors by transferring his properties to a friend's name and was even telling people that he had already skipped town. Other suits against Fisher soon followed. He countersued Woodaman in response for $15,000 for libel but the damage to his reputation and credit had already been done and his last classified ad as an architect appeared in Seattle newspapers on August 10, 1891.[13] Only 2 days after his last ad as an architect, he was among those listed as being granted liquor licenses.[14] Fisher spent the next year running the Abbott House Hotel at the Southeast corner of Pike Street and 3rd Avenue in a building that he had previously designed and built.[15]

In early 1893, mere months after his marriage to Charlotte M. Willey (They would divorce by 1900),[16] a former mistress that Fisher had traveled with from Colorado to Victoria brought a civil suit against him claiming to be his true wife.[8] [17] Although he was acquitted of any wrongdoing, the scandal ruined what was left of his reputation in Seattle. He had the contents of his home and office auctioned off and permanently removed to Los Angeles where he would form a new partnership with Carroll H. Brown. In Los Angeles he struggled to re-establish the career success he had enjoyed in Seattle, which had less to do with his reputation and more as a result of the Panic of 1893 which halted building projects across the nation. After a major commission for the Van Nuys Building in downtown Los Angeles fell through, his partnership with Brown was dissolved and he all but retired from architecture. After leading an unsuccessful 1897 expedition to Alaska during the Yukon Gold Rush, he returned to his first profession, carpentry, last appearing in the 1903 Los Angeles city Directory working as a construction superintendent for his former Seattle peer, John Parkinson who, unlike Fisher, had taken Los Angeles by storm upon his arrival a decade prior.[18] [19] He died around 1905 in relative obscurity. His official date of death as well as his final resting place is unknown.

Work

Fisher's early commercial designs were of Victorian and Italianate influence and were typified by exposed brick with corbelling, selective exterior plastering and massive Aedicular window surrounds; motifs were reused to the extent that several buildings built between Victoria, Vancouver and Port Townsend in the mid-1880s were nearly identical. Romanesque elements heavily utilizing decorative terra cotta began to make their way into his designs by 1888 and would play a major role in his later work, such as the now demolished Burke block (1889–91), whose many elaborate terra cotta elements were incorporated into the public plaza surrounding the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building (1975).

On June 6, 1889, a fire destroyed most of Seattle's business district. The buildings were primarily constructed of wood so the large-scale rebuilding campaign focused on new "fireproof" buildings constructed of brick, stone and iron. Fisher designed many of the new buildings and some can still be seen in what is now the Pioneer Square neighborhood.[20]

Fisher favored the Richardsonian Romanesque style which led to a unity of appearance in the district.[20] He also tended to divide the facades of his buildings into a grid, a style influenced by Victorian architecture.[21]

His best-known work is the Pioneer Building in Seattle. Designed and first proposed in 1888, It was completed in 1892 for Henry Yesler and it served as a "prestige office address" throughout the decade.[22] [23] It won an award from the American Institute of Architects for "being the finest building West of Chicago".[24]

Projects

Pre-Fire

Post-Fire

Brown & Fisher, Los Angeles

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Summary for 300 Occidental Way / Parcel ID 5247800695 . City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. September 24, 2009.
  2. Book: Minneapolis City Directory . 1874 . Campbell & Davison . Minneapolis . 162 . 7 August 2018.
  3. Book: Minneapolis City Directory . 1875 . W.M. Campbell . Minneapolis . 172 . 7 August 2018.
  4. Book: Minneapolis City Directory . 1876 . Campbell & Davison . Minneapolis . 130 . 7 August 2018.
  5. Book: Corbett & Ballenger's 9th Annual Denver City Directory . 1881 . Corbett & Ballinger . Denver . 216 . 9 . 7 August 2018.
  6. Book: Corbett & Ballinger's Eleventh Annual Denver City Directory . 1883 . Corbett & Ballinger . Denver . 143 . 7 August 2018.
  7. Book: Corbett & Ballenger's 12th Annual Denver City Directory . 1884 . Corbett & Ballenger . Denver . 202 . 12th . 7 August 2018.
  8. News: Wife, Yet No Wife: Architect Fisher Accused of Deceiving a Woman . 3 March 2021 . The Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Library of Congress: Chronicling America . 16 Mar 1893.
  9. News: A Complementary Letter - The Denny Hotel Committee's Tribute to Architect Fisher's Skill . 9 September 2019 . The Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Library of Congress . 6 Feb 1889.
  10. Web site: Summary for 119 Yesler Way / Parcel ID 5247800545 . City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. September 24, 2009.
  11. News: Occidental Is Safe: Architects and Builders Say There Is No Danger . 3 March 2021 . The Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Library of Congress: Chronicling American . 22 Apr 1891.
  12. News: Damages for Libel; Fisher Charges Woodaman with Hurting His Credit . 3 March 2021 . The Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Library of Congress: Chronicling America . 28 Jul 1891.
  13. News: Architects [Classified Listings] ]. 3 March 2021 . The Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Library of Congress: Chronicling America . 10 Aug 1889.
  14. News: The City Council: Board of Alderman [Liquor licenses were granted to...] ]. 3 March 2021 . The Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Library of Congress: Chronicling America . 12 Aug 1891.
  15. Web site: Summary for 105 1st Ave / Parcel ID 5247800046. City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. September 24, 2009.
  16. News: Marriage of Architect Fisher . 7 December 2020 . The Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Library of Congress . 15 Feb 1893.
  17. News: Answer to Architect Fisher: Miss Smith Claims That She Was Forced by Necessity to Release Him . 7 December 2020 . The Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Library of Congress . 16 Apr 1893.
  18. Book: Los Angeles City Directory . 1903 . General Directory Publishers . Los Angeles . 443.
  19. Book: Los Angeles City Directory . 1902 . Los Angeles City Directory Co. . Los Angeles . 391 . 15 August 2018.
  20. Web site: Pioneer Square-Skid Road Historic District . National Park Service . September 24, 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100114093530/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/seattle/s28.htm . January 14, 2010 .
  21. Web site: Summary for 219 1st Ave / Parcel ID 5247800105. City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. September 24, 2009.
  22. News: Yesler's Six-Story Block . 25 July 2018 . The Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Library of Congress . 4 Dec 1888.
  23. Web site: Pioneer Building . National Park Service . September 24, 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090901074739/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/seattle/s25.htm . September 1, 2009 .
  24. Web site: Summary for 606 1st Ave / Parcel ID 0939000150. City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. September 24, 2009.
  25. News: Spencer's New Building . 25 July 2018 . Daily British Colonist . Victoria Newspapers 1858-1936 . 30 Mar 1886.
  26. News: New Buildings . 25 July 2018 . Daily British Colonist . Victoria Newspapers 1858-1936 . 22 May 1886.
  27. News: From Yesterday's Daily . 24 April 2020 . Weekly Puget Sound Argus . Washington State Library . 13 Jan 1887.
  28. Web site: Architect's drawing of a building with sign for E. Pimbury and Company, Victoria, British Columbia, between 1880 and 1890 . University of Washington Special Collections . 4 May 2020.
  29. News: Bids! [Advertisement] ]. 7 December 2020 . The Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers . 1 Mar 1888.
  30. News: From Saturday's Daily . 7 December 2020 . Puget Sound Weekly Argus [Port Townsend] . Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers . 7 Oct 1888.
  31. Web site: Young men's Christian Association (YMCA) Building, probably 1890 . University of Washington Special Collections . 17 October 2019.
  32. Web site: YMCA building at 1417 1st Ave., Seattle, 1903 . University of Washington Special Collections . 17 October 2019.
  33. Web site: Gatzert & McDonald Block . University of Washington Special Collections . Washington Magazine . 17 October 2019.
  34. News: Two and a Half Million; Fisher's List of Buildings for the Past Year . 1 August 2018 . The Seattle Post-Intellignecer . Library of Congress . 1 Jan 1890.
  35. News: To Builders . 11 December 2020 . The Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers . 21 Aug 1889.
  36. Web site: Rengstorff Block and Building, probably 1890 . University of Washington Special Collections . 4 May 2020.
  37. Web site: Sullivan Building, probably 1891 . University of Washington Special Collections . 4 May 2020.
  38. News: Local Brevities . 29 July 2018 . The Yakima Herald . Library of Congress . 2 Jan 1890.
  39. News: Bids Will Be Received... [Classified Ad] ]. 27 October 2021 . The Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers . Library of Congress . 14 Apr 1890.
  40. News: More Fine Bricks . 15 December 2020 . The Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Library of Congress . 29 May 1890.
  41. News: Real Estate and Building . 29 July 2018 . Los Angeles Herald . Library of Congress . 23 Mar 1895.
  42. News: Real Estate and Building - Uncontracted Work . 29 July 2018 . Los Angeles Herald . Library of Congress . 27 Dec 1895.

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