Jesse Boaz Miller (1880-1968), Architect
Jesse Boaz Miller was born near Wahoo, Nebraska in 1880. He received his advanced education at Nebraska Wesleyan University (1903-1904), the University of Nebraska (1904-1905), and the University of Illinois (1906-1907). In 1907, upon his return from the University of Illinois, Miller was engaged as a draftsman with the firm, Fiske & Dieman, Architects, continuing to work for Fiske until 1913 when he became Fiske's junior partner as Fiske & Miller, Architects. The partnership was dissolved in 1914 and Miller began to practice independently. In May of 1924, Mr. Miller went into partnership with Fritz Craig. Miller died in 1968.[1]
This page is a contribution to the publication, Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. See the format and contents page for more information on the compilation and page organization.
Contents
Compiled Nebraska Directory Listings
Lincoln, Nebraska, 1915-1918, 1920-1922, 1935-1961
Educational & Professional Associations
1938: Registered Professional Architect, Nebraska, A-14; January 25, 1938.[9]
1907-1910: draftsman, Fiske & Dieman, Architects
1910-1913: draftsman, F. C. Fiske, Architect, Lincoln, Nebraska.[1]
1913-1914: junior partner, Fiske & Miller, Architects, Lincoln, Nebraska.[1][10]
1915-1923: architect, Lincoln, Nebraska.[1]
1924-1935: partner, Miller & Craig, Architects, Lincoln, Nebraska.[1]
1935-1961: architect, Lincoln, Nebraska. License expired December 31, 1961.[9]
Buildings & Projects
Miller House (1909), 3434 T St., Lincoln, Nebraska.[13][a] (LC13:E09-222)
1913-1914 (Lincoln, Nebraska)
Jesse B. Miller joined Fiske's practice as a draftsman in the spring of 1907, then became the junior partner in Fiske & Miller in March, 1913. The firm was dissolved "by mutual consent" in 1914 and Miller commenced an independent architectural practice in Lincoln. See Fiske & Miller, Architects for the projects of their partnership in 1913 and 1914.[1][10][14][b]
1914-1924
Following his association with F. C. Fiske, Miller commenced an independent architectural practice in Lincoln for a decade.
Barker House (1914), 1250 S. 24th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[25]Barker House (1914)
Apollo apartments for Herbert C. Jennings (1914-1915), 730 South 11th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[15]
LaBelle apartments for H. C. Jennings (1915), 740 South 11th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[16]
Brick stores for Mrs. James Mooney (1915), 206 North 7th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[17][22] (LC13:C09-083)
Project for Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity House (1915), northwest corner of 16th & S Streets, Lincoln, Nebraska.[34][e]
House for Towne estate (1915), 320 S. 29th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[7][18] (LC13:E08-187)
E. F. Jenkins House (1915), 3214 R Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[19] (LC13:E09-378)
John M. Alexander house (1915), 1915 D Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[20][21] (LC13:D07-471)
Brick store for S. S. English (1915), 432 South 11th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[24] (LC13:C08-251
Duplex for Warren E. Jennings (1915), 1321 C Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[26]
Grace Graybill House (1915), 1019 L Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[27]
W.B. Shurtleff Apartments (1915), 1441 G Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[28] (LC13:D07-0145)
Garage for S. R. McKelvie (1915), 145 South 26th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[29]
Apartment for John Violet (1915), 1236 H Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[30] (LC13:C08-223)
Apartments for Monarch Investment Co. (1915), 515-519 South 18th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[31]
Apartments for Monarch Investment Co. (1915), 509-513 South 18th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[32]
L. H. DeBrown house (1915), 1995 Ryons Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[33] (LC13:D05-122)
E. B. Cowles House (1916), 1901 South 24th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[35] (LC13:D06-0121)
Stores, with lodging rooms above, for Jennings and Lansing (1916), 105-307 South 11th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[36]
Brick house for Warren E. Jennings (1916), 1917 South 27th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[37]
T. E. Williams House (1916), 1210 B Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[38] (LC13:C07-731)
Kappa Alpha Theta sorority house (1916), 401 North 16th Street/1548 R Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[39]
J. R. Reid House (1916), 1245 S. 27th St., Lincoln, Nebraska. (LC13:D07-0722)
Steward Avery Motor Company (1916), 1120 P St., Lincoln, Nebraska. (LC13:C09-119)
Jennings Brothers and Thompson Apartments (1916), 300 S. 16th St., Lincoln, Nebraska. (LC13:D08-034)
Lei Lau Farl Apartments (1916), 224-240 S. 17th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[1][12]
Warren Jennings House (1916), 1917 S. 27th St., Lincoln, Nebraska. (LC13:D06-0272)
National Survey Company (1917), 2615 Washington, Lincoln, Nebraska. (LC13:D06-0744)
Trinity Methodist Church Parsonage (1918), 1744 S. 24th St., Lincoln. (LC13:D06-0125)
Lincoln Hide & Fur Co. Warehouse (1919-1920), 335 North 8th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[8][c] (LC13:C09-066)
Homer V. Martin house (ca. 1920-1923), 1735 S 25th, Lincoln, Nebraska.[5] (LC13:D06-0149)
Paul H. Holm house (1922), 1801 D St, Lincoln, Nebraska.[6] (LC13:D07-041)
Will F. Hitchcock house (1922), 2733 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, Nebraska. (LC13:E05-002) (winner of 1924 Lincoln House Beautiful contest) [1][2][6] NRHP form and photos
East Lincoln Masonic Temple (1923) ne cor 27th & S, Lincoln, Nebraska.[1] (LC13:E09-340)
Harry P. O’Hagan house (1924), 2239 Smith, Lincoln, Nebraska. (LC13:D05-545)
1924-1935
Miller entered into a partnership with Fritz Craig in 1924 as Miller & Craig, Architects, designing numerous residences and more fraternity and sorority houses near the University of Nebraska campus than any other firm. Their partnership continued until 1935. See Miller & Craig, Architects for the projects of their partnership.
1935-1961
Standard Brands, Inc./Martin-Day Co. Building (1935), 19th & Y, Lincoln, Nebraska.[8]
Skelly Oil Company Filling Station (1937), 2600 O St., Lincoln, Nebraska. (LC13:D09-220)
Safeway Grocery (1937), 1320 Q St., Lincoln, Nebraska. (LC13:C09-036)
Safeway Grocery (1937), 2620 O St., Lincoln, Nebraska. (LC13:D09-221)
Apartment (1937), 3200 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, Nebraska. (LC13:????)
Undated
Epworth Methodist Church (1921), 29th & Holdrege, Lincoln, Nebraska.[1]
Lennox Apartments (n.d.), Lincoln.[1]
George Holmes house (n.d.), 1907 Sheridan Blvd, Lincoln.[2]
Harvey Rathbone house (n.d.), 3067 Stratford Ave, Lincoln.[2]
Frank DuTeil Garage (1916), 1116-1120 P Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[8][11]
R. D. Herzog house (n.d.), 2221 Sheridan, Lincoln, Nebraska.[8]
Notes
a. His own home, this is Miller's first known design project. J. B. Miller applied for the building permit for this house in March, 1909, identifying himself as both property owner and architect. According to Lincoln city directories, Miller and his family occupied the home from 1910 to 1922. In the early years of their residency, the directories identified Miller as a draftsman for F. C. Fiske; not until 1914 was their brief partnership as Fiske & Miller noted.
b. An entry on Jesse Boaz Miller in Who's Who in Lincoln of 1928 declares with specificity that after serving as a draftsman in Fiske's office from the spring of 1907 until March 1913, Miller became the junior partner in Fiske & Miller until September 1, 1915, when he began an independent practice. However, Fiske published a notice in a Lincoln newspaper of September 7, 1914 that the "co-partnership" of Fiske & Miller "is here hereby dissolved by mutual consent." Furthermore, Fiske announced a new firm with Harry Meginnis in January 1915, supporting the more limited span of the Fiske & Miller association.[1][10][14]]
c. In 1919, Miller designed the first stage of construction--the lower three floors--of what became a six-story building in 1927, when Davis & Wilson, Architects added the upper stories for Hardy Furniture Company.
d. The City of Lincoln Building Permit and building permit application (both #6159) are in conflict as to the specific parcel involved, the latter saying Lot 4 of Block 217, Original Plat of Lincoln, and the former indicating Lot 3. Lot 4 contains a brick duplex and Lot 3 a frame house, so it seems likely an error on the application was corrected on the permit, and that "Miller" designed the brick building.[26]
e. The Sunday State Journal of March 28, 1915 includes a fine perspective drawing and lengthy description of Miller's "Plans...for the erection of a new Phi Kappa Psi house at Sixteenth and S streets." The building shown "follows somewhat after the style of the English (Elizabethan) renaissance," and both interior and exterior features are described. However, when building permit #7003 to house that chapter on that site was issued in 1917, a colonial revival design by A. H. Welch of Columbia, Missouri was erected rather than Miller's design. In the 1920s, Miller and his partner Fritz Craig designed about a dozen of the chapter houses in Greek Row Historic District.[34]
References
1. Who's Who in Lincoln (1928), 157.
2. “Beautiful Homes Contest,” Lincoln Sunday Star (July 6, 1924), 9.
3. Obituary, Lincoln Star (November 1, 1968), 23.
4. Lincoln Star (July 31, 1919).
5. Plans on file--Nebraska State Historical Society
6. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
7. Becky Martin, “Woods Park Neighborhood Walking Tour,” Preservation Association of Lincoln Newsletter 28:3 (Fall 2010), 4.
8. Thomas Lee Kaspar (1951-____), Architect, comp. Inventory of architectural records in the archives of Davis Fenton Stange Darling, Architects, Lincoln, Nebraska. 1996. Nebraska State Historical Society, RG3748, Box 16.
9. “Professional license results for Jesse B. Miller,” State of Nebraska Board of Engineers and Architects website, accessed December 17, 2013, http://www.ea.ne.gov/search/search.php?page=details&lic=A14
10. "Miscellaneous" notice in Lincoln Daily News (September 7, 1914), 15, announcing dissolving of "co-partnership" of Fiske & Miller.
11. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6878, issued 1916.
12. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6758, with associated application and drawings, issued September 9, 1916, estimated cost: $36,000.
13. City of Lincoln Building Permit 2933, issued March 18, 1909, estimated cost: $3,000. Architect: Jesse B. Miller.
14. "New Firm" (announcement of partnership of Fiske & Meginnis), Lincoln Daily News (January 4, 1915), 2.
15. City of Lincoln Building Permit 5804, issued December 16, 1914, estimated cost: $16,800. Architect: Jesse Miller.
16. City of Lincoln Building Permit 5822, issued January 27, 1915, estimated cost: $16,800. Architect: J. Miller.
17. City of Lincoln Building Permit 5842, issued February 23, 1915, estimated cost: $5,800. Architect: Jesse B. Miller.
18. City of Lincoln Building Permit 5904, issued April 5, 1915, estimated cost: $3,500. Architect: Jesse B. Miller.
19. City of Lincoln Building Permit 5964, issued April 17, 1915, estimated cost: $2,500. Architect: J. B. Miller.
20. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6003, issued May 15, 1915, estimated cost: $4,200. Architect: Miller.
21. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing property with the Mount Emerald and Capitol Additions Historic District. SEE National Register narrative
22. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places within the Lincoln Haymarket Historic District. See National Register narrative and National Register photos.
23. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places within the Greek Row Historic District. SEE National Register narrative
24. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6036, issued June 1, 1915, estimated cost: $3,500. Architect: Jesse B. Miller.
25. City of Lincoln Building Permit 5801, issued December 3, 1914, estimated cost: $6,000. Architect: Miller.
26. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6154, issued August 7, 1915, estimated cost: $5,000. Architect: Miller.
27. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6211, issued September 1, 1915, estimated cost: $6,000. Architect: Jesse Miller.
28. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6245, issued September 2, 1915, estimated cost: $10,000. Architect: Jesse B. Miller.
29. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6252, issued September 24, 1915, estimated cost: $800. Architect: Jesse E.[sic] Miller.
30. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6311, issued November 6, 1915, estimated cost: $8,000. Architect: Jesse B. Miller.
31. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6367, issued December 20, 1915, estimated cost: $12,000. Architect: Jesse Miller.
32. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6368, issued December 20, 1915, estimated cost: $12,000. Architect: Jesse Miller.
33. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6372, issued December 27, 1915, estimated cost: $4,500. Architect: Jesse B. Miller.
34. "Proposed Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity House.--Jesse B. Miller, Architect," (Lincoln, Nebraska) Sunday State Journal (March 28, 1915).
35. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6393, issued February 9, 1916, estimated cost: $4,500. Architect: Jesse B. Miller.
36. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6396, issued February 14, 1916, estimated cost: $10,000. Architect: Miller.
37. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6473, issued March 29, 1916, estimated cost: $4,000. Architect: Miller.
38. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6537, issued May 1, 1916, estimated cost: $4,000. Architect: Jesse Miller.
39. City of Lincoln Building Permit 6664, issued July 30, 1916, estimated cost: $8,500 (on application), $7,000 (on permit). Architect: Jesse B. Miller.
Page Citation
E. F. Zimmer and D. Murphy, “Jesse Boaz Miller (1880-1968), Architect,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, April 3, 2017. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, October 29, 2024.
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