Thomas Wilson Williamson Explained

Thomas W. Williamson
Nationality:	United States
Birth Date:	4 August 1887
Birth Place:	Hiawatha, Kansas
Practice:	Thomas W. Williamson; Thomas W. Williamson & Company; Thomas W. Williamson, Victor H. Loebsack & Associates; Williamson-Loebsack & Associates

Thomas Wilson Williamson (August 4, 1887 – November 16, 1974) was a Kansas architect who specialized in designing school buildings in Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri.

Life and career

He was born August 4, 1887 in Hiawatha, Kansas.^[1] He graduated from Topeka High School in 1907. He then attended the University of Pennsylvania and graduated with an A.B. degree from its school of architecture and returned to Kansas in 1911.^[2] He worked briefly for the Kansas state architect's office and for one year for architect John F. Stanton (whose El Dorado Carnegie Library is NRHP-listed). He then opened his own practice in 1912.^[2]

He practiced architecture for more than 50 years, designing schools and courthouses in Kansas and neighboring U.S. states. A number of his works were listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places for their architecture. Firm names including him operated as Thomas W. Williamson and Company, as Thomas W. Williamson, Victor H. Loebsack & Associates, and later as Williamson-Loebsack & Associates. The firm grew to a size of 46 architects, draftsmen, engineers and other specialists.^[2]

He designed schools,^[3] courthouses^[2] and the Jayhawk Theater and linked hotel in Topeka in 1926.

Williamson grew up in Topeka, Kansas^[1] and is best known for designing Topeka High School, a magnificent Perpendicular Gothic public high school, completed in 1931. Assisting Williamson was his chief designer Theodore R. Griest, and Linus Burr Smith from Kansas State College (now Kansas State University) to oversee the plans.

Williamson and Griest also designed Clay Elementary School (now Cair Paravel-Latin School), which was completed in 1926.

Works

Works include (with attribution to self or firm):

• Cheyenne County Courthouse (1924–25), 212 E. Washington St., St. Francis, Kansas (Williamson, Thomas W. & Co.), NRHP-listed^[4]
• Jayhawk Hotel, Theater and Walk (1926), 700 Jackson Ave., Topeka, (Williamson, Thomas W.), NRHP-listed^[5]
• Topeka High School (1931 campus), 800 SW 10th Ave., Topeka, (Williamson, Thomas W.), NRHP-listed
• Washington Grade School (1938), 209 S. Locust St. Pittsburg, Kansas (Williamson, Thomas W. & Co.), NRHP-listed

• Central Motor and Finance Corporation Building, 222 W. 7th St., Topeka, Kansas (Williamson, Thomas W.), NRHP-listed
• Curtis Junior High School, 316 NW Grant St., Topeka, (Williamson, Thomas Wilson), NRHP-listed
• Fire Station No. 2--Topeka, 719-723 Van Buren, Topeka, (Williamson, Thomas Wilson), NRHP-listed
• Hiawatha Memorial Auditorium, 611 Utah St., Hiawatha, Kansas (Williamson, Thomas W.), NRHP-listed
• Sumner Elementary School and Monroe Elementary School, 330 Western Ave. and 1515 Monroe St., Topeka, (Williamson, Thomas W.), NRHP-listed

Bibliography

• William Elsey Connelley, History of Kansas, State and People, (1928)
• United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places submission for Topeka High School, Shawnee County, Kansas, (22 April 2005)

External links

• • Kansas Memory: Thomas Wilson Williamson, Kansas Historical Society

Notes and References

1. http://www.kshs.org/km/items/view/310015 Thomas Wilson Williamson - Kansas Memory - Kansas Historical Society
2. Web site: National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation: Historic County Courthouses of Kansas . . Sally F. Schwenk. 2002 . March 11, 2017.
3. Web site: National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation: Historic Public Schools of Kansas . . Brenda R. Spencer . 2005 . March 11, 2017.
4. Web site: [{{NRHP url|id=02000391}} National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Cheyenne County Courthouse ]. Dana Cloud and Sally F. Schwenk . April 30, 2000 . National Park Service. and
5. Web site: National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation: Historic Theaters and Opera Houses of Kansas . . Elizabeth Rosin, Dale Nimz, and Kristen Ottesen . 2004 . March 11, 2017.