John R. Smith (1870-1958), Architect
John R. Smith was born May 4, 1870 in Wisconsin to Richard H. and Mary Smith. The U. S. Census listed his father as a lead miner in 1870 and as a farmer in 1880. The family moved in the 1880s to Pierce County, Nebraska, where John married Florence Watson on December 31, 1899.[1] John was identified as a farmer in Willow Creek, Pierce County, Nebraska in the 1900 census. Florence and John had three children, the last a daughter born in 1905, the year her mother Florence died and was interred in Pierce County. 1905 was also the first year John R. Smith was listed in a Lincoln, Nebraska city directory as a draftsman for architect J. H. Craddock. Smith was a draftsman for a Lincoln millwork company in 1906 and 1907, then in 1908 was a draftsman in the office of Fiske & Dieman. He married Inez Rose Sheetz in 1908 and in 1909 began to be listed as an architect in University Place (now Lincoln), Nebraska.[9][a] While his residence remained University Place, his office was in downtown Lincoln as early as 1911. He designed residences, several schools and other public buildings in University Place and elsewhere in Nebraska, and made a specialty of church design, publishing a brochure "Modern Church Architecture" that listed 100 churches in five Midwestern states "for which we have furnished architectural services." His son Roland practiced with him as John R. Smith & Son from 1923-1935.[10]
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, 1905-1918, 1920-1921, 1931, 1935
Educational & Professional Associations
1905: draftsman for J. H. Craddock, architect, Lincoln, Nebraska.[10]
1906-1907: draftsman, Curtis & Bartlett Millwork Company, Lincoln, Nebraska.[10]
1908: draftsman, Fiske & Dieman, Architects, Lincoln, Nebraska.[10]
1909-1910: architect, University Place, Nebraska.[4][10]
1911-1921: architect, Lincoln, Nebraska.[10]
1922-1934: architect and partner, John R. Smith & Son, Architects, Lincoln, Nebraska.[10]
Buildings & Projects
Two-story school (1910), Brunswick, Nebraska.[5]
School, $10,000 (1911), Ainsworth, Nebraska.[6]
Eugene Levi house (1911), 1727 D, Lincoln, Nebraska.[3] (LC13:D07-361)
Fairmont Methodist Church (1911), Fairmont, Nebraska.[7]
Greybull School Building (1911), Greybull, Wyoming.[7]
Residence for J.M. Wildhaber (1911), Plymouth, Nebraska.[7]
North Bend Carnegie Library (1911-1913), 140 E. 8th, North Bend, Nebraska.[3] (DD09-010) National Register narrative
Theodore A. Kiesselbach House (1913), 3232 Holdrege, Lincoln, Nebraska.[3] (LC13:E11-013)
First Baptist Church (1913), Broken Bow, Nebraska.[2][c]
Welsh Congregational Church (1913), Carroll, Nebraska.[2][13]
Lutheran Church (1913), West Point, Nebraska.[2]
First United Presbyterian Church addition (1913-1914), NW corner 4th & Nebraska, Madison, Nebraska.[2][3] (MD03-021) National Register narrative
Methodist Church (1914), Windsor, Colorado.[2]
University Place Carnegie Library (1915), 2820 N 48th, Lincoln, Nebraska.[8]
Methodist Church (1915), Beatrice, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1915), Beaver City, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1915), Ewing, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1915), Galt, Grundy County, Missouri.[2]
Methodist Church (1915), Ponca, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1916), Louisville, Nebraska.[2]
Warren Methodist Church (1916), University Place (now Lincoln), Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1917), Allen, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1917), Alma, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1917), Big Springs, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1917), Carroll, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1917), Cozad, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1917), Crawford, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1917), Holdrege, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1917), Sidney, Nebraska.[2]
Riley School (1917), State & Dudley, University Place (now Lincoln), Nebraska. (survey form)
Methodist Church (1918), Alliance, Nebraska.[2]
Epworth Methodist Episcopal Church (1918), Cortland, Nebraska.[2][12]
Methodist Church (1918), Mullen, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1918), Nora, Nuckolls County, Nebraska.[2]
Lutheran Church (1918), Omaha, Nebraska.[2]
Baptist Church (1920), Casper, Wyoming.[2]
Baptist Church (1920), Douglas, Converse County, Wyoming.[2]
Methodist Church (1920), Gurley, Cheyenne County, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1920), Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1920), Neligh, Nebraska.[2]
Presbyterian Church (1920), Norfolk, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1920), Pacific Junction, Iowa.[2]
Methodist Church (1920), Stromsburg, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1920), Wynot, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1921), Mount Pleasant, Iowa.[2]
Presbyterian Church (1922), Bayard, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1922), Curtis, Nebraska.[2]
Methodist Church (1922), Wauneta, Nebraska.[2]
East Side Christian Church (1923), 27th & Y Streets, Lincoln, Nebraska.[2][14]
United Presbyterian Church (1927), 880 South 35th Street (at F Street), Lincoln, Nebraska.[2][15][16]
Zion Congregational Church (1927), 9th and D Streets, Lincoln, Nebraska.[2][17]
Notes
a. The U. S. Census of 1910 listed John Smith, architect (age 40) and his wife Rosie (36), married two years, with children Everett L. (9), Roland H. (8), Florence (5), and step-son (to John) Durwood C. Sheets (6). The young Smiths were all born in Nebraska while Rose's son Durwood was born in Idaho.[9]
b. Reference [2] circa date based upon 1921 being the only year that J. R. Smith is listed in the Directories at the address indicated on the publication; it is possible the publication was issued on the occasion of the formation of Smith & Son, Architects [ed].
c. First Baptist Church in Broken Bow, Nebraska bears the date "1913" and "MCMXIII" on its parapets.
References
1. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch; Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.
2. J.R. Smith & Son, Architects, “Modern Church Architecture,” (Lincoln: N.P., n.d. [c1921]). (includes list of 100 churches designed by the firm)
3. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
4. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line], s.v. "Florence M. Smith" (with spouse s.v. "John Smith"), Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
5. School Board Journal (October 1909), 26.
6. School Board Journal (March 1911), 33.
7. "Lincoln, Nebraska," American Contractor 32:21 (May 27, 1911): 63.
8. Nebraska State Library Commission, card file on public library buildings.
9. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line],s.v. “John R. Smith” (with spouse s.v. "Rose I. Smith"), Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.
10. Lincoln city directories.
11. Ancestry.com. Nebraska, Marriage Records, 1855-1908 [database on-line], s.v. "J. R. Smith" (1899) and "John R. Smith" (1908), Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017;
12. "Contracts Awarded. Church: Cortland, Nebr. Archt. J. R. Smith...Owner M. E. Church, Cortland," American Contractor (March 20, 1918), 63.
13. "Carroll, Nebr.--Church," The American Contractor (April 19, 1913), 33.
14. City of Lincoln Building Permit #11055, issued 1923.
15. City of Lincoln Building Permit #16768, issued August 18, 1927.
16. "Church Structure Dedicated Sunday...New United Presbyterian Edifice," Lincoln (Nebraska) State Journal (January 30, 1928), 9.
17. City of Lincoln Building Permit #16562, issue 1927.
Page Citation
D. Murphy & E. F. Zimmer, “John R. Smith (1870-1958), Architect,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, August 8, 2022. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, November 22, 2024.
Contact the Nebraska State Historic Preservation Office with questions or comments concerning this page, including any problems you may have with broken links (see, however, the Disclaimers link at the bottom of this page). Please provide the URL to this page with your inquiry.
