Albert Henry Dyer (1854-1926), Architect
DBA: A. H. Dyer & Company; A. H. Dyer Company
Albert H. Dyer was born on June 3, 1854 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.[4][7] After growing up in New Haven, Connecticut, Dyer moved to Atkinson, Nebraska and married Hattie Blackmer on March 17, 1891.[4] They later settled in Fremont, Nebraska, where Dyer lived for the rest of his life.[4][7]
Dyer had a formative influence on Fremont's development as the place's first city building engineer, putting in place building regulations and ordinances.[4] Beyond this role, Dyer designed many buildings in Fremont and other Nebraskan towns in his capacity as an architect, despite his lack of college education.[4] People looked to him as an authority on reinforced concrete and beam loads.[4]
Dyer died on November 24, 1926.[7]
This page is a contribution to the publication, Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. See the Format and contents of Nebraska architect entries page for more information on the compilation and page organization.
Contents
Compiled Nebraska Directory Listings
O'Neill, Nebraska, 1890-1891
Fremont, Nebraska, 1893-1895, 1902-1903, 1906-1909, 1910-1926
Educational & Professional Associations
1890-1891: architect, O’Neill, Nebraska.
1893-1926: architect, Fremont, Nebraska.[4][7]
1899: "architect and superintendent of building" for Nye & Schneider (coal and lumber) Company, Fremont, Nebraska.[12][c]
1907-1917: architect and principal, A. H. Dyer & Company, Architects, Fremont, Nebraska.
Other Associations
1904: employed Runnie Hill "to assist him this season."[15]
1916-1917: employed Emil Paul Schreier, draftsman.
1916-1917: employed Fred V. Thomas, draftsman.[9]
Buildings & Projects
Dated
Fremont Saddlery Company Building (1892), Fremont, Nebraska.[1]
Blumenthal Clothing Store Building (1893), Fremont, Nebraska.[5][b]
R. B. Schneider house (1897), 234 W 10th, Fremont, Nebraska. (DD05:A-051)
A "large number of new houses...[and]..The boarding houses will all be enlarged, a new hotel or two put up..." (1899), Ames, Nebraska.[14][d]
First National Bank of Stanton (1903), Stanton, Nebraska.[11]
J. C. Robinson house (1904), 103 E. Lincoln, Waterloo, Nebraska.[2][15][e] (DO12-001) National Register narrative
First National Bank of Pilger (1906), Pilger, Nebraska.[6][10]
Addition, Valentine Public School (1908), Valentine, Nebraska.[2] (CE14-002) National Register narrative
St. Luke’s Catholic Church [Kostel sv Lukase] (1910-1912), Loma, Nebraska. (BU09-005)
First National Bank Building (1912), 505-07 N Main, Fremont, Nebraska.
Fremont Junior High School (ca.1912), Fremont, Nebraska.[4]
Frank H. Fowler Store Building (1913), Fremont, Nebraska.[6]
Fremont High School (1913-1914), Fremont, Nebraska.[6] (DD05:D-154)
Dodge County Courthouse (1914-1917), 435 N Park Ave, Fremont, Nebraska.[4] (DD05:E-006)
Pathfinder Hotel (1916), Fremont, Nebraska.[4]
H. P. Lau Wholesale Grocery Building (1923-1924), Fremont, Nebraska.[6]
Undated
Farmers Telephone Company Office Building (n.d.), North Bend, Nebraska.[6]
Richards & Keene Warehouse (n.d.), Fremont, Nebraska.[6]
Fremont Hospital (n.d.), Fremont, Nebraska.[6]
Howells State Bank (n.d.), Howells, Nebraska.[6]
Colfax County Bank (n.d.), Howells, Nebraska.[6]
Wiley & Morehouse Warehouse (n.d.), Fremont, Nebraska.[6]
District 4 School (n.d.), Lodgepole, Nebraska.[6]
Fremont Stockyards and Land Company Office Building (n.d.), Fremont, Nebraska.[6]
Bus Depot (n.d.), Fremont, Nebraska.[6]
Alterations, Power Plant (n.d.), Fremont, Nebraska.[6]
Fourth Grade School (n.d.), Fremont, Nebraska.[4]
Casper High School (n.d.), Casper, Wyoming.[4]
North Bend High School (n.d.), North Bend, Nebraska.[4][a]
Annex, Hotel Eno (n.d.), location unknown.[6]
Store Building and Hotel Annex for Ruwe and Koehnhack (n.d.), Fremont, Nebraska.[6]
Brick Store Building for Jesse A. Ruwe (n.d.), Fremont, Nebraska.[6]
Odd Fellows Home (n.d.), York, Nebraska.[6]
Waechter Dwellings (n.d.), Fremont, Nebraska.[8]
Notes
a. Reference [4] implies this is North Bend, Wyoming.
b. Reference [5] credits Dyer as the architect with Seeley & Son Company, Architects.
c. Nye & Schneider Co. was a coal dealer and lumberyard in Fremont with yards in two dozen other Nebraska communities.[13]
d. Under a headline "Ames News," a Fremont newspaper reported "Architect Dyer of Fremont, is busy preparing plans for a large number of new houses to be erected here this season. The boarding houses will all be enlarged, a new hotel or two up up and Mr. Leavitt expects to build a house for himself as soon as possible."[14] Ames was a small hamlet a short distance west of Fremont which served as a cattle watering and feeding station on the Union Pacific Railroad.
e. A Fremont newspaper reported in 1904 that "Mr. Dyer is now working on ten other buildings in Fremont and other Nebraska towns," in addition to the Robinson house in Waterloo, estimated to cost $12,000. Mentioned were "the new hotel to be built for Tom Adams near the Union Station."[15]
References
1. Fremont Daily Herald (March 16, 1892).
2. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
3. AIA Historical Directory of American Architects: A Resource Guide to Finding Information About Past Architects, accessed April 27, 2010, http://communities.aia.org/sites/hdoaa/wiki/Wiki%20Pages/ahd1012062.aspx
4. Henry F. Withey and Elsie Rathburn Withey, comp., Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased) (Los Angeles: New Age Publishing Company, 1956); Facsimile edition, Hennessey & Ingalls, Inc., (1970), 185.
5. Fremont Tribune (May 20, 1893), 4:2.
6. Albert Henry Dyer Collection, Nebraska State Historical Society, RG4050.AM., accessed April 23, 2013, http://nebraskahistory.org/lib-arch/research/manuscripts/family/albert-dyer.htm
7. " Fremont Architect Stricken without Moment's Warning--Albert Henry Dyer Succumbs Suddenly at Early Hour Yesterday Morning," Fremont (Nebraska) Herald (November 25, 1926), 1; and “A. H. Dyer Dies from Heart Trouble,” Fremont Evening Tribune (November 26, 1926), 2:1.
8. Postcard, Nebraska State Historical Society Photograph Collections (Carter Purchase, September 2005).
9. Application for Registration to Practice Professional Engineering and Architecture, Nebraska State Board of Examiners for Professional Engineers and Architects, August 13, 1938. Nebraska State Historical Society RG081 SG2.
10. Fremont (Nebraska) Tribune (June 12, 1906), 6; and Stanton (Nebraska) Weekly Picket (April 12, 1906), 5. [Courtesy of Matt Hansen]
11. "Notice," Stanton (Nebraska) Register (May 29, 1903), 4; "First National at Home Again. Moves Into Its New Quarters Monday Night. Has One of the Best Buildings in the Valley," Stanton (Nebraska) Weekly Picket (December 10, 1903), 1. [Courtesy of Matt Hansen]
12. "Briefly Told," Fremont (Nebraska) Semi-Weekly Herald (June 6, 1899), 4; SEE also "Looking Back through our files--50 years ago," Fremont (Nebraska) Tribune (June 3, 1949), 4.
13. "The Nye & Schneider Co.," Fremont (Nebraska) Daily Tribune (December 30, 1899), 26.
14. "Ames News," Fremont (Nebraska) Tri-Weekly Tribune (February 25, 1899), 8.
15. "Architect A. H. Dyer...completed arrangements for the construction of a residence for J. C. Robinson at Waterloo," Fremont (Nebraska) Tri-Weekly Herald (April 26, 1904), 3.
Page Citation
D. Murphy & E. F. Zimmer, “Albert Henry Dyer (1854-1926), Architect,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, July 4, 2023. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, October 29, 2024.
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