Thomas Podmore Explained

Thomas Podmore (1859–1948) was an architect from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. In addition to his lengthy architectural career as an architect, Podmore is noteworthy for his experiments with the fabrication of concrete products.

Early life

Thomas Podmore was born at Cherrington, Shropshire, England in 1859, the son of a farmer, and was baptized at the nearby village of Tibberton on March 23, 1859.^[1] In 1881, he was living on St. Ann Street in Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, employed as an "architect's assistant."^[2]

Career in America

Podmore emigrated to the United States about 1883, worked for a few years in New York, then moved to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. There, in 1886, he joined forces with Albert Hamilton Kipp (1850–1906) to form the architecture firm Kipp & Podmore.^[3] The firm dissolved by mutual consent at the end of 1891.^[4]

In 1903, Podmore received a patent for a "machine for molding concrete blocks,"^[5] and in 1907 founded the Podmore Concrete Co., for the manufacture of concrete blocks by a method of Podmore's own devising.^[6]

Podmore retired in 1928 after the completion of his last building, Sprague Memorial Hall, in Kingston, Pennsylvania.^[7] He died in 1948.^[8]

Principal Architectural Works

• Nelson Memorial Hall, Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania, built in 1887 — as Kipp & Podmore.^[9]
• Methodist Episcopal Church, Dallas, Pennsylvania, completed in 1889 — as Kipp & Podmore.^[10]
• Armory, Gaylord Avenue, Plymouth, Pennsylvania, built in 1891 — as Kipp & Podmore.^[11]
• State Street School, Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, built in 1891 — as Kipp & Podmore.^[12]
• St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Plymouth, Pennsylvania, built in 1893.^[13]
• Wyoming Valley Country Club, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, built 1896.^[14]
• W. G. Eno Residence, Ross Street, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, built 1899.^[15]
• J. B. Woodward Residence, Northampton Street, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, built 1899.^[16]
• Town Hall, Edwardsville, Pennsylvania, built 1899.^[17]
• Wyoming Valley Country Club Enlargement, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, built 1903.^[18]
• Grace English Lutheran Church, 500 S. Franklin St, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, dedicated May 1911.^[19]
• R. R. M. Carpenter Residence, Wilmington Delaware, built in 1911.^[20]
• Wilkes-Barre Contagious Hospital, East Division Street, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, completed 1918.^[21]
• Walter S. Carpenter Jr. Residence, Wilmington, Delaware, completed in 1918.^[22]
• Nesbitt Memorial Athletic Field, Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania, dedicated October 1922.^[23]
• Sprague Hall, Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania, completed in 1928.^[24]

See also

• Architecture of Plymouth, Pennsylvania

References

1. familysearch.org, English Births & Christenings.
2. 1881 UK Census, Stoke-upon-Trent.
3. Wilkes-Barre Record, December 25, 1886, page 1.
4. Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader, December 26, 1891, page 4.
5. "Patents," The National Builder, November 1904, page 35.
6. "Notes of the Industry," Rock Products, Vol. VI, No. 10, April 22, 1907, page 48.
7. The Wilkes-Barre Record, February 3, 1948, page 13.
8. Wilkes-Barre Record, August 16, 1948
9. The Sunday Leader, September 11, 1887, page 8.
10. Wilkes-Barre Record, June 1, 1939, page 4.
11. Sunday News, June 8, 1890, page 3.
12. The Plymouth Tribune, October 16, 1891, page 8.
13. Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader, October 18, 1893, Page 8.
14. The Wilkes-Barre Record, October 19, 1896, page 5.
15. Dollar Weekly News, December 16, 1899, page 3.
16. Dollar Weekly News, December 16, 1899, page 3.
17. The Wilkes-Barre Record, December 18, 1899, page 13.
18. The Wilkes-Barre Record, April 25, 1903, page 7.
19. The Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (1917).
20. Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader, January 27, 1911, page 19.
21. The Evening News (Wilkes-Barre), December 10, 1918, page 1.
22. The Evening Journal (Wilmington, Delaware), June 29, 1918, page
23. The Wilkes-Barre Record, October 4, 1922, page 5.
24. The Wilkes-Barre Record, March 21, 1928, page 17.