George William Frank, Jr. (1861-1905), Architect
George William Frank, Jr. was born in November of 1861 in Warsaw, New York.[7][9][10][e] He was a prominent Kearney businessman and architect.[4] He was the son of Phoebe McNair and George Washington Frank, Sr., also a well-known businessman.[7] The Franks moved to Kearney in 1885.[6] Frank quickly established the Kearney Brick Company, which he claimed was the "first brickyard in the world operated by electricity."[6] The December 22, 1889 edition of the Kearney Enterprise called the company one of the best brick-making establishments in the country.[6]
Frank also began designing the Frank House shortly after his arrival in Kearney.[1][3][6] The house was a gift to his parents, designed with an eye toward entertaining the business partners of the father, who was heavily involved in the industrial development of Kearney.[7]
Frank was married to Ella Stedman, and they had two children, Louise and George Stedman Frank.[4][10] After his health began to decline, he moved around the country to places such as South Carolina and Arizona, hoping a different climate would improve his state.[4] He died January 19, 1905 in Liberty, New York, having enduring several years of poor health, at 43 years old.[4][9][10]
This page is a contribution to the publication, Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. See the format and content page for more information on the compilation and page organization.
Contents
Educational & Professional Associations
1886-1889: George W. Frank, Jr., Architect, Kearney, Nebraska.[2]
ca. 1887: founder, Kearney Brick Company, Kearney, Nebraska.[6]
1889-1891: architect and partner, Frank Bailey & Farmer, Architects, Kearney, Nebraska.
1891: architect and partner, Frank & Bailey, Architects, Kearney, Nebraska.[c]
Other Associations
1889-1891: retained Walter Pell Pulis to make presentation drawings.
Buildings & Projects
Superintendant of construction, Midway Hotel (1886-1888), Kearney, Nebraska.[5][b]
George W. Frank house (1886-1889), Kearney State College, Kearney, Nebraska.[1][3][6][a][d] (BF05-161) National Register narrative
Kearney City Hall (ca. 1888), Kearney, Nebraska.[2]
Offered to supply stone from his Wyoming quarries for Omaha Post Office (1893).[11][f]
Notes
a. Architect listed as Frank Bailey & Farmer, after that partnership was formed.[1]
b. The architect was Samuel E. des Jardins of Cincinnati, Ohio.[5]
c. According to the 1891 Kearney City Directory, Myron G. Farmer removed to Detroit in 1891.
d. The house was wired with electricity, had three indoor bathrooms, and used steam heat.[8]
e. In a modest gesture towards limiting confusion, George Washington Frank, Sr. gave his son George William Frank, Jr. a distinct middle name.[7][9][10]
f. An Omaha newspaper reported in 1893: "Washington, D. C., Sept. 20.--George W. Frank of Kearney, Neb., is in the city. Mr. Frank is interested in some very fine sandstone and granite quarries at Rawlins [sic], Wyo., and he came here to place samples of the stone in the office of Supervising Architect O'Rourke. Mr. Frank is willing to furnish the stone for the Omaha public building." [11]
References
1. American Architect & Building News 754 (March 22, 1890), drawing by Walter Pell Pulis.
2. American Architect & Building News 24:666 (September 29, 1888).
3. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
4. “Geo. W. Frank, Jr., Dead,” Nebraska State Journal (January 22, 1905), 4:2.
5. Margaret Stines Nielsen, “The Hotels of Kearney – Part I,” Buffalo Tales 10:8 (September, 1987), accessed through the Buffalo County Historical Society website, May 17, 2012, http://www.bchs.us/BTales_198709.html
6. Alice Shaneyfelt Howell, “Brickmaking in Kearney,” Buffalo Tales 16:5 (September-October, 1993), accessed through bchs.us on November 5, 2015, http://www.bchs.us/BTales_199309.html
7. “The Frank House,” NebraskaTraveler.com, accessed November 5, 2015, http://nebraskatraveler.com/tourist-attractions/the-frank-house.php
8. “Frank House,” VisitKearney.org, 2013, accessed November 5, 2015, http://visitkearney.org/directory/listing/frank-house/
9. "George William Frank" FindaGrave.com Accessed February 27, 2018 via https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18638246/fran
10. "George William Frank, Jr" Kulla|Gross|Goldberg|Braunfeld Families Tree-Ancestry.com Accessed February 27, 2018 via https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/family-tree/person/tree/24902430/person/26082398532/facts?ssrc=
11. "Mr. Frank Would Furnish Stonre for Omaha's Building," Evening World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska), (September 21, 1893), 5.
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Page Citation
D. Murphy & E. F. Zimmer, “George William Frank, Jr. (1861-1905), Architect,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, July 28, 2024. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, November 22, 2024.
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