Harry Livingston French Explained

Harry Livingston French (November 21, 1871 – January 16, 1928) was an American architect based in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He designed in a variety of styles, including classical architecture and Gothic revival. His built works included numerous banks, schools, and armories.

Biography

Harry Livingston French was born at Plymouth, Pennsylvania, on November 21, 1871, the son of politician, author, and building contractor Samuel Livingston French and his wife, Harriet Seville Turner.^[1] French attended Cornell University, where he was editor of The Cornellian (Cornell's annual yearbook), a member of the junior honorary society Aleph Samach, and a member of the senior honor society Sphinx Head. He also joined the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and through that organization became a member of the Irving Literary Society. He graduated in 1894 with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture.^[2]

In 1897, French and the Canadian-born architect Frederick McCormick formed McCormick & French, an architectural partnership based in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Their built works included the interior of the Luzerne County Courthouse, the Nesbitt Theater, and several banks, including the 1906 Second National Bank, considered by some to be Wilkes-Barre's first skyscraper.^[3]

French was a member of the Architectural League of New York.

On June 28, 1910, French married Anne Lee Worden of Wilkes-Barre. Their son, Livingston Paine French, was born at Wilkes-Barre on May 6, 1911.

Harry Livingston French died at New York City on January 16, 1928.^[4] His business partner, Frederick McCormick died on September 2, 1929.^[5]

McCormick & French's built work

Among the completed buildings of French's firm, McCormick & French, are the following:

• The Stegmaier Brewing Company; Wash House, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (built 1896).^[6]
• Nesbitt Theater, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (completed October 1897).^[7]
• Hotel Oneonta, Harveys Lake, Pennsylvania (built 1898; destroyed by fire in 1919).
• The Stegmaier Brewing Company; Wagon Shed, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (built 1899).^[8]
• The Hospital for the Insane, later called Retreat State Hospital, Newport Township, Pennsylvania (completed 1900).^[9]
• The Stegmaier Brewing Company; Stables, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (built 1901).^[10]
• The Sisters of Christian Charity, Holy Family Convent, Danville, Pennsylvania (built 1902).^[11]
• The Stegmaier Brewing Company; Bottling House, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (built 1902).^[12]
• The Hospital for the Insane (Additional Wings), Newport Township, Pennsylvania (built 1905).
• The Stegmaier Brewing Company; Bottling House Addition, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (built 1905).^[13]
• Hotel Redington, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (built 1906).^[14]
• The Derr Apartment House, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (built 1906).^[15]
• Central High School, Plymouth, Pennsylvania (second high school building, built 1906).^[16]
• The Stegmaier Brewing Company; Cold Storage Building, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (built 1907).^[17]
• Plymouth National Bank, Plymouth, Pennsylvania (built 1907).^[18]
• First Eastern Bank, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (built 1907).^[19]
• The Hazard Wire Rope Works (power plant, rope mill and warehouse), Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (built 1907).^[20]
• Armory, National Guard of PA, Pittston, Pennsylvania (dedicated February 7, 1907).
• Armory, National Guard of PA, Columbia, Pennsylvania (dedicated March 13, 1907).
• Armory, National Guard of PA, Easton, Pennsylvania (dedicated October 17, 1907).
• The Bennett & Phelps Apartment House, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (built 1907).^[21]
• Armory, National Guard of PA, Pine Grove, Pennsylvania (built 1908).
• Armory, National Guard of PA, Williamsport, Pennsylvania (built 1908).
• Interior, Luzerne County Court House, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (built 1909).^[22]
• Trucksville M.E. Church, Trucksville, Pennsylvania (built 1910).^[23]
• The YWCA Building, Franklin Street, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (dedicated October 12, 1910).
• Armory, National Guard of PA, Co. B, 8th Regiment, Tamaqua, Pennsylvania (built c. 1910).
• Armory, National Guard of PA, Honesdale, Pennsylvania (built 1911).^[24]
• The Susquehanna Coal Co. Office Building, Main Street, Nanticoke, Pennsylvania (dedicated May 1, 1911).
• First National Bank, Plymouth, Pennsylvania (built 1915).^[25]
• St. Mary's R.C. Church, Berwick, Pennsylvania (dedicated July 1917).^[26]
• Nesbitt Memorial Hospital, Kingston, Pennsylvania (completed 1929).^[27]

See also

Architecture of Plymouth, Pennsylvania

Notes and References

1. The Evening News (Wilkes-Barre, PA), January 17, 1928, page 3.
2. Cornell Alumni News, Obituary: Harry L. French, Vol. XXX, No. 20, February 26, 1928, p. 248. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
3. Web site: Luzerne County Courthouse History. August 19, 2006. 12 May 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20180317102352/http://www.luzernecounty.org/living/history_of_luzerne_county/luzerne_county_courthouse_history. 17 March 2018. dead.
4. The Evening News (Wilkes-Barre, PA), January 17, 1928, page 3.
5. Wilkes-Barre Record, September 3, 1929, page 3.
6. National Register of Historic Places, Nomination Form, March 28, 1979.
7. Wilkes-Barre Record, October 29, 1897, page 7.
8. National Register of Historic Places, Nomination Form, March 28, 1979.
9. The Wilkes-Barre News, February 13, 1900, page 7.
10. National Register of Historic Places, Nomination Form, March 28, 1979.
11. Danville Morning News, May 31, 1902, page 2.
12. National Register of Historic Places, Nomination Form, March 28, 1979.
13. National Register of Historic Places, Nomination Form, March 28, 1979.
14. Wilkes-Barre Times, October 4, 1906
15. Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader, July 23, 1906, page 8.
16. Wilkes-Barre Times, March 23, 1905, March 23, 1905
17. National Register of Historic Places, Nomination Form, March 28, 1979.
18. Wilkes-Barre Times, September 7, 1907
19. [National Register of Historic Places]
20. Wilkes-Barre Times, May 8, 1907, page 10.
21. Wilkes-Barre Times, April 6, 1908.
22. Kashatus, William C., "Courthouse centennial: Luzerne County's cornerstone", The Citizens Voice, September 20, 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
23. The American Contractor, July 23, 1910, p.49.
24. Wayne County Historical Society, "The first Pennsylvania State Armory" . Retrieved 23 July 2012.
25. Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader, August 17, 1915
26. The American Contractor Magazine, January 29, 1916, page 48.
27. Wilkes-Barre Record, November 15, 1929, page 20