John Henry Willis Hawkins (1855-1923), Architect
DBA: J. H. W. Hawkins
Born in Glen Falls, New York to Rev. William G. and Narcissa Hawkins in 1855, John H. W. Hawkins was the grandson and namesake of a leading temperance crusader.[20][21][a] J. H. W. Hawkins was educated at Cornell University, graduating in 1877. By 1878, he was advertising as an architect in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, carrying out a a very active practice there through 1885. While in Wilkes-Barre, he married Mary Murray in 1881. Hawkins came to Lincoln, Nebraska in 1886, where his father was an Episcopal minister. The architect opened an Omaha office by 1890 but probably resided in Lincoln until 1891. He left Omaha to return to Wilkes-Barre for another brief but productive spell from about 1895 to 1902. He completed his career with two decades of practice in Jacksonville, Florida from 1902 through 1922. He died in Denver, Colorado on February 17, 1923.[10][22][27]]]#Notes|[d]]]
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, 1886-1890
Omaha, Nebraska, 1890-1894
Educational & Professional Associations
1874-1877: Cornell University, architecture degree.[24]
1878-1885: architect, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.[11]23]
1886-1890: architect, Lincoln, Nebraska.[16][25][26][b]
1890-1894: architect, surveyor, and superintendent, Omaha, Nebraska.[c]
18945-1902: architect, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.[12]
1902-1922: architect, Jacksonville, Florida.[13][14][18]
1923: died, Denver, Colorado.[10]]
Buildings & Projects
1878-1885, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Hawkins quickly established himself as an architect in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, with commissions including the high school, commercial buildings, a church and residences.
1886-1890, Lincoln, Nebraska
Hawkins removed to Lincoln, Nebraska in 1886, and to Omaha around 1890.
George Warren Smith Building (1880), 1213-15 Harney, Omaha, Nebraska.[7][8] (DO09:0123-026)
Imhoff house (1880s), Lincoln, Nebraska.[5]
J. D. McFarland house (1880s), Lincoln, Nebraska.[3][5][16][17]
Receiving Vault (1886), Wyuka Cemetery, Lincoln, Nebraska.[3]
Albert Watkins House (1887), 920 D St, Lincoln, Nebraska.[7] (LC13:C07-791)
John H. W. and Mary Hawkins House (1887-1889), NE corner of S 20th & Washington, Lincoln, Nebraska.[27][28][d]
Judge W. H. Morris house (1887-1888), 1039 Forest, Crete, Nebraska.[1][7] (SA01-006)
Old Nebraska Hall (1887-1888), 11th & T, University of Nebraska City Campus, Lincoln, Nebraska.[4] Demolished, 1961.
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church (1888), 1200 J St, Lincoln, Nebraska.[9][16] Demolished. (LC13:C08-320)
Brownell Hall Chapel - Dietz United Methodist Church (1888), 1423 S 10th St, Omaha, Nebraska.[6]
St Matthias Episcopal Church (1888-1889), 1423 S 10th, Omaha, Nebraska.[3][7][8][16][17] (DO09:0115-003) National Register narrative
Palace Livery Stable (ca. 1889), 1121 M St, Lincoln, Nebraska.[1][2]
R. O. Phillips house (1889-1890), 1845 D St, Lincoln, Nebraska.[7][16] (LC13:D07-0042)
George Smith house (1890), west side 12th between I & F Streets, Geneva, Nebraska. (FM05-031)
1890-1894, Omaha, Nebraska
Hawkins removed to Lincoln, Nebraska in 1886, and to Omaha around 1890.
Trinity Hall for Worthington Military Academy, (1891), Lincoln, Nebraska.[16][19]
Brown-Scott House (ca. 1891), 219-221 S 27th, Lincoln, Nebraska.[7] (LC13:D08-490)
Callahan Block - Mid-City Music (1892), 321 N 16th, Omaha, Nebraska.[8] (DO09:0125-005)
Design for Hotel Blakely (1892), Beatrice, Nebraska.[29][e]
Hotel (1892), Main and Shine, Deadwood, South Dakota.[30][f]
Guy C. Barton house (ca. 1892), 38th & Cuming, Omaha, Nebraska.[16]
Herman Kountze house (ca. 1892), South 10th, Omaha, Nebraska.[16]
W. R. Matthews House (ca. 1892), 802 Worthington St., Omaha, Nebraska (DO09:0064-002) (Attribution questioned in NeHBS)
1895-1902, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Due to the difficult financial situation of the times, Hawkins left Omaha ca. 1894 and returned to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Max Roth Center (1895), 215 S Franklin, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.[12]
Hotel Sterling (1897), 47-65 West Market, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.[12]
1902-1922, Jacksonville, Florida
In 1902, following a major fire that destroyed much of Jacksonville, Florida, Hawkins moved to Jacksonville and opened an office there, where he finished his career.
Snyder Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church (1902-1903), 226 North Laura St, Jacksonville, Florida.[15]
Undated
Industrial College (n.d.), Lincoln, Nebraska.[16]
J. H. W. Hawkins house (n.d.), Lincoln, Nebraska.[3][17]
Montgomery & Billingsby Building (n.d.), Lincoln, Nebraska.[3][17]
Country Residence (n.d.), Omaha, Nebraska.[17]
Notes
a. Rev. William George Hawkins, the father of the architect, published a biography of his father John H. W. Hawkins (1798-1858), focusing on his struggles with alcohol and his conversion to become a temperance crusader.[20][21]
b. In March 1886, a newspaper in Lincoln, Nebraska noted that "J. H. W. Hawkins, an architect of Wilkesbarre, Pa., and son of Rev. W. G. Hawkins of this city, has decided to locate in Lincoln, and will probably be ready for business by April 1st." Another paper announced his office location in Richards' block and noted "Mr. Hawkins is a graduate of Cornell university, New York, and a quiet unassuming gentleman who desires the evidence of his work to be his best recommendation."[25][26]
c. In 1890 Hawkins was included in both the Lincoln and Omaha city directories, with office addresses listed in both but a residential address (1431 S. 20th) only in Lincoln--at the large house he had designed and built just a few years before. He continued to be listed in both directories in 1891, with his residential address still listed in Lincoln (without an office address, and without mention among "Architects" in the business section of the Lincoln directory). In the Omaha volume for 1891, for Hawkins only an office address and no residence is mentioned. It appears that his transition between the cities was gradual, and that he probably maintained his Lincoln residence until 1891 or so.
By 1892, Hawkins is not listed in Lincoln, while the Omaha directories for 1892 and 1893 list both office and residential addresses for him, suggesting strongly that his relocation to Omaha was by then complete. 1894 was the last year Hawkins appeared in a Nebraska directory--in Omaha.
d. The Hawkins' own house in Lincoln was under construction by mid-1887 and the 1888 city directory indicates they were already in residence, although mechanics' liens also suggest work on the house continued into 1889. Those seven mechanics' liens filed against the property suggest the Hawkins were stressed financially by the project, at least until they sold the property for $26,000 in value September 29, 1891, discharging the final three liens on that same day. The date of the sale aligns well with the fact Lincoln city directories continued to list the family at that address through 1891, although Hawkins had an architectural office in Omaha by 1890.[27][28]
e. The (Omaha) World-Herald of July 21, 1892 reports: "The perspective of J. H. W. Hawkins of Omaha for the Hotel Blakeley at Beatrice, Neb., has just been accepted by a syndicate of capitalists headed by Mr. Blakely of that city. The cost will be $65,000."[29]
f. The Sunday (Omaha) World-Herald of August 14, 1892 reports that after a failed project build a hotel in Deadwood, a new stock company of investors formed and "Mr. J. H. W. Hawkins, an architect of Omaha, was invited to prepare drawings, and on the formation of the company was instructed to go ahead with the work." The article goes on to describe a five-story sandstone building with frontages of 140 and 100 feet, to be completed by June 1, 1893.[30]
References
1. Pen & Sunlight Sketches of Omaha and Environs. (Chicago: Phoenix Publishing Company, 1892), 87. 978.238 P37
2. Pen & Sunlight Sketches of Lincoln: Its Growth, Resources, Commerce, Manufactures. (Chicago: Phoenix Publishing Company, [1893?]) 978.265 P37
3. Minutes of the Board of Trustees, Wyuka Cemetery, Lincoln, Nebraska, October 2, 1886; copy in Nebraska State Historical Society, historic preservation division, architects file.
4. Kay Logan-Peters, “Nebraska Hall (Old),” An Architectural Tour of Historic UNL (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, UNL Libraries, 2005). Accessed January 15, 2015. http://historicbuildings.unl.edu/building.php?b=8
5. “Architects in Nebraska to be Covered in Our Survey,” WPA Writers Project, Nebraska State Historical Society Collections, RG515, subject 611.
6. Landmarks, Inc. An Inventory of Historic Omaha Buildings (Omaha: City of Omaha and Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission, 1980), 44.
7. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
8. City of Omaha Planning Department, Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission, Database, Query on Architects, May 20, 2002; courtesy of Lynn Meyer, Preservation Planner.
9. Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS NE-35-6. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, accessed April 9, 2013, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/ne0028/
10. [Obituary], Pittston (Pennsylvania) Gazette (March 9, 1923): 12. Accessed May 7, 2016. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1403667/obituary_for_j_h_w_hawkins/
11. “J. H. W. Hawkins, Architect,” (Adv) The Wilkes-Barre Record (September 11, 1884): 2. (This is a list of buildings by Hawkins in and around Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.) Accessed May 7, 2016. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1403397/buildings_in_and_around_wilkesbarre_by/
12. “Walk Wilkes-Barre, Celebrating Wilkes-Barre’s Bicentennial: 1806-2006. A Self-guided tour of the historic center of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.” [ca. 2006]. Accessed May 7, 2016. http://wbdcp.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Walk-WB-2007-website.pdf
13. “Signed Note 1902 J.H.W. Hawkins Letterhead Architect Jacksonville Florida RARE.” WorthPoint Website. (Hawkins is described as newly-arrived from New York.) Accessed May 7, 2016. http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/signed-note-1902-h-hawkins-letterhead-536732601
14. “A Century of Fellowship – AIA Florida History,” AIA Florida, 2016. (Hawkins was in attendance at the state convention to establish the Florida Association of Architects, held in Jacksonville, December 14, 1912.) Accessed May 7, 2016. http://www.aiafla.org/About-the-AIA_History.cfm
15. “Snyder Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church – Jacksonville, FL,” Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com. Accessed May 7, 2016. http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMJJ7E_Snyder_Memorial_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_Jacksonville_FL
16. Historical and Descriptive Review of Omaha (Omaha: John Letham, [1892?]): 108.
17. Examples of Architecture by J. H. W. Hawkins, Architect. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania [brochure, n. d.]. Photo copies of pages with Nebraska buildings courtesy of Michael J. Lewis, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 16, 1988; original at Wyoming Historical and Geological Society [New York].
18. Mrs. (H. V. S) E. H. Smith to Mr. K.K. Hoyt. Paonia, Colorado. December 26, 1923. From photocopy of a letter provided by Wyoming Historical and Genealogical Society.
19. "Square, Level and Plumb. The Corner Stone of Trinity Hall. Another Educational Institution will Soon Crown a Suburban Height," Weekly (Lincoln) Nebraska State Journal (June 12, 1891), 8.
20. Life of John H. W. Hawkins, Compiled by his son, Rev. William George Hawkins, A.M., Boston: Briggs & Richards, 1862. Accessed December 6, 2017 on-line at https://archive.org/details/LifeOfJohnHHawkins
21. Ancestry.com 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. SV for father--William George Hocking.
22. Record of the Times (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) (April 20, 1881), 4.
23. Advertisement for J. H. W. Hawkins, Architect, in Record of the Times (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) (March 19, 1878), 3.
24. "Obituary: John H. W. Hawkins '77," Cornell Alumni News(March 15, 1923), 297. Accessed on-line December 6, 2017 at http://hdl.handle.net/1813/26676
25. (Lincoln) Nebraska State Journal (March 13, 1886), 8.
26. "J. H. W. Hawkins, an architect from Wilkes-Barre, Pa., has arrived in the city..." Lincoln (Nebraska) Evening Call (March 26, 1886), 4.
27. Lancaster County (Nebraska) Register of Deeds: purchase of Lots 7-9, Block 4, Pleasant Hill Sub. (Deed 39:116, June 2, 1887, $2700); Mechanics Liens C:616 (carpentry work between July 1887-Feb. 1888, with full transcript of contract), D:25, D:45, E:3, E:320 (ironwork between Jun 1887-July 1889), E:348; sale of property (Deed 63:348, September 29, 1891, for $18,000 cash plus assuming $8,000 mortgage).
28. Examples of Architecture by J. H. W. Hawkins, Architect, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. n.d; photocopy at Lincoln/Lancaster Planning Dept., courtesy of Wyoming Historical and Geological Society (Wilkes-Barre, PA).
29. "Real Estate Notes. Activity in Building--Some of the Late Permits," Evening World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska) (July 21, 1892), 2.
30. "Deadwoods Hotel. After Trouble and Travail It Is Now Sure of Completion," Sunday World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska) (August 14, 1892), 6.
Page Citation
D. Murphy & E. Zimmer, “John Henry Willis Hawkins (1855-1923), Architect,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, December 7, 2017. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, November 22, 2024.
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