Arthur Gustaf Peterson (1884-1954), Contractor & Architect
d.b.a. A. G. Peterson
Arthur G. Peterson was born in Nebraska on November 28, 1884 to Andrew P and Carolina C. Peterson, both of whom were born in Sweden. Arthur worked as a carpenter in Lincoln as early as 1909, and married Lillie there in 1910.[1][2] In 1915 he began to be listed on building permits for projects of W. Bruce Shurtleff as both "Architect" and "Contractor or Builder," and in the Lincoln city directory of 1917 he was identified an an architect working for W. B. Shurtleff.[d] Peterson worked on residential buildings, from single-family houses to the 9-story Metropolitan Apartments. He switched from working for W. B. Shurtleff to Nebraska Building & Investment Co. (NBIC) from 1918 through 1920, first as an architect and later as an "estimator."[3][4] NBIC folded in the early 1920s; by 1924 Peterson was in Kansas City, working first as a carpenter and later as a building superintendent. He died in 1954 in Fairway, Kansas at age 69, receiving fatal injuries in a staircase fall at the apartment building for which he was building supervisor.[5][6]
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, 1909-1922
Educational & Professional Associations
1906-1916: carpenter/contractor, Lincoln, Nebraska
1917: architect for W. B. Shurtleff, Lincoln, Nebraska.
1918: architect for NBIC, Lincoln, Nebraska.[3]
1920: estimator for NBIC.[4]
1921: draftsman, Lincoln, Nebraska.
1922: engineer for Western Paint & Glass Company, Lincoln, Nebraska.
1924: carpenter, Kansas City, Missouri
1925-1953: superintendent &/or building supervisor, Kansas City, Missouri & Fairway, Kansas.[6]
Buildings & Projects
Four-story "Yolo" apartment house for W. B. Shurtleff (1915-1916), 508-514 South 12th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[7][11]
Three adjacent frame houses for M. C. Shurtleff (1916), 1209 South 25th Street, 2435 C Street, and 2425 C Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[8]
Metropolitan Apartments (1916-1917), 500-506 South 12th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[9][10][11][a][b]
W. Bruce Shurtleff Residence (1916), 2624 Washington Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[11][12][13]
Harry Bradley house (1916), 2310 Sewell Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[14]
Arthur M. & Gladys Bunting house (1917), 2945 Van Dorn Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[15][c]
Ann M. & Corl E. Reynolds House (1918), 2020 South 24th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[16][17]
Notes
a. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 1987; demolished 2003.
b. The City of Lincoln building 1916 permit materials for the Metropolitan include elevations and floor plans, signed by "A. G. Peterson Arch't." They vary from the completed building in many details and the front elevation titles the 9-story building "Black Stone," but in 1917 it opened as "Metropolitan Apartments."[8][9]
c. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places within the Boulevards Historic District.
d. Shortly after the period when he employed A. G. Peterson, W. Bruce Shurtleff was founding president of Federal Building and Investment Company (FBIC) in 1918. FBIC was similar to but distinct from Nebraska B&IC (NBIC). In the 32-page brochure introducing FBIC, Shurtleff illustrated many of his pre-1918 projects, including the Metropolitan, the Yolo, and his own house at 2624 Washington.[11] However, FBIC built only a few more buildings in 1918 before the company was liquidated in 1919-1920.
References
1. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census, s.v. "Gustaf A. Peterson," [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
2. Ancestry.com. U.S., Evangelical Covenant Church, Swedish American Church Records, 1868-1970, s.v. "Arthur G. Peterson," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017.
3. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, s.v. "Arthur G. Peterson," [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
4. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census, s.v. "Arthur B. Peterson," [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
5. Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave™ Index, 1600s-Current, s.v. "Arthur B. Peterson," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
6. "Arthur G. Peterson Rites," Kansas City (Missouri) Star (August 4, 1954), 39.
7. City of Lincoln Building Permit #6292, issued October 19, 1915, estimated cost $12,000; A. G. Peterson, architect.
8. City of Lincoln Building Permits #6461, 6462, and 6463, issued March 25, 1916, estimated cost of each house $2,000; A. G. Peterson, architect.
9. City of Lincoln Building Permit #6608, issued May 31, 1916, estimated cost $100,000; "Peterson, A. G.," architect.
10. "Another Change in the Sky-Line--The Beautiful New Metropolitan Apts.," Lincoln (Nebraska) Daily Star (May 6, 1917), 4-5 (double page spread); "Metropolitan," Sunday State Journal (Lincoln, Nebraska) (June 10, 1917), 8-C (illustrated).
11. Federal Building and Investment Company...7% Investments, ca. 1918, Lincoln, Nebraska (32 page brochure, illustrated with 5 portrait and 24 building photos, Lincoln Planning Dept.).
12. City of Lincoln Building Permit #6607, issued May 31, 1916, estimated cost $10,000.
13. Ed Zimmer, Walking the Near South Neighborhood: Volume 2 (Lincoln, Nebraska: Near South Neighborhood Association, 2020), 24-25.
14. City of Lincoln Building Permit #6781, issued September 21, 1916, estimated cost $3,000; A. G. Peterson, architect.
15. City of Lincoln Building Permit #6942, issued February 27, 1917, estimated cost $12,000; A. G. Peterson, architect & contractor/builder.
16. City of Lincoln Building Permit #7371, issued April 9, 1918, estimated cost $6,000; "Peterson" architect; C. E. Reynolds, owner & contractor.
17. Ed Zimmer, Walking the Near South Neighborhood: Volume 3 (Lincoln, Nebraska: Near South Neighborhood Association, 2021), 93.
Page Citation
E. F. Zimmer, “Arthur Gustaf Peterson (1884-1954), Contractor & Architect,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, February 22, 1923. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, November 24, 2024.
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