Roberts & Woods, Architects
Partners:
Artemas Roberts (1841-1944), Architect, Lincoln, Nebraska
Alfred Wilderman Woods (1857-1942), Architect, Lincoln, Nebraska
A quarter century into his four-decade long architectural career in Lincoln, Artemas Roberts entered into a partnership with Alfred Wilderman Woods, who at 30 years old was 16 years younger than Roberts. They commenced their partnership in a period of dynamic growth in Lincoln, as the city's population quadrupled in the 1880s from about 13,000 to over 55,000. The "boom" years of the 1880s and early 1890s were followed by the Panic of 1893, which saw the capital city's population drop by one-quarter between 1890 and 1900. Roberts and Woods were among the few architects who remained in Lincoln throughout those lean years, into the recovery in the late 1890s and early 1900s. A few years after their partnership ceased around 1903, Roberts retired to Florida, though he farmed and carried out architectural work there. Roberts also occasionally did later projects in Lincoln, but only for his sons. Woods continued to practice in Lincoln for three more decades, sometime in partnerships and often independently. Churches became a particular focus of Woods' work, for a range of congregations throughout the U. S.
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
1887-1903
Lineage of the Firm
Artemas Roberts, architect, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1870-1887.
A. W. Woods, penmanship teacher at Lincoln Business College, 1884-1885.[1]
A. W. Woods, architect, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1885-1886.
Roberts & Woods, Architects, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1887-1903.
Artemas Roberts, architect, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1904-1907.
A. W. Woods, architect and partner, Woods & Shaffer, Architects, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1903-1907.
Artemas Roberts, citrus farmer and architect while "retired" in Dade City, Florida, 1907-1944.[2]
A. W. Woods, architect and partner, Woods & Cordner, Architects, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1907-1912.
A. W. Woods, architect, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1912-1918.
A. W. Woods, architect and partner, Woods & Anderson, Architects, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1918.
A. W. Woods, architect, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1918-1933.
Compiled Nebraska Directory Listings
Lincoln, Nebraska, 1890-1893, 1903
Buildings & Projects
Andrew J. Sawyer Residence (1887), 1718 F Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[3][4]
Davis & Alexander Block (1887), 1203 O Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[5]
Hamer Building (1887), N between 11th and 12th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[6]
Herpolsheimer’s Department Store (1890), 12th & N Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[2][3][4]
Lindell Hotel (1892), 13th & M Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[7]
The Haish (1893), Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, Nebraska.[8][9]
St. Patrick Catholic Church (1893), 6111 Morrill Ave., Lincoln, Nebraska.[10]
High School (1895), Seward, Nebraska.[11]
School of Agriculture (1896), University of Nebraska “East Campus,” near Holdrege between 37th & 38th, Lincoln, Nebraska.[12]
Park Hill (1896), 1913 S. 41st Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[13]
Experimental Station (1899), University of Nebraska East Campus, Lincoln, Nebraska.[14]
Hussong house (ca. 1900), 1549 S 23rd, Lincoln, Nebraska.[15]
Fairview (1902-1903)(William Jennings Bryan Residence), 1902-1903, 4900 Sumner Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[2][3][16][17][18][a]
Irma Hotel (for Buffalo Bill Cody, 1902), Cody, Wyoming.[19][33]
Second Presbyterian Church (1902), Southeast corner 26th & P, Lincoln, Nebraska.[1][b]
Mrs. Alice D. Constant Residence (1902), 122 S. 27th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[21][22]
Methodist Episcopal Church (1902), southeast corner of 3rd and Pearl Streets, Lyons, Nebraska.[6][23][24][25] (BT04-011)
C. F. McCain House (1902), 26th and R Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[20]
Bowers House (1902), 20th and R Streets, Lincoln, Nebraska.[20]
Henry Grosshans House (1902), Sutton, Nebraska.[26][27]
J.I. Case Office Building (1902), 620 L Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.[28][29]
Methodist Episcopal Church (1902), Geneva, Nebraska.[30][31]
Glenville School District #49 (1903), 401 S 5th, Glenville, Nebraska.[32] (CY06-003)
Notes
a. The National Register nomination and other sources give credit to Roberts, alone; Roberts may have been the principal in charge, or this may represent a project that signaled the forthcoming end of the Roberts & Woods partnership.
b. Source [20] credits Woods, alone. This may have been a project, and not a commission--Zimmer attributes the building to Fisher & Lawrie, Architects, Omaha, Nebraska.
References
1. Who's Who in Nebraska, Lincoln: Nebraska Press Assn., 1940.
2. “Artemas Roberts, 102, Early Lincoln Architect, is Dead,” Lincoln Star (May 8, 1944).
3. Kay Logan-Peters, “Roberts & Woods; Architects,” Historic Buildings of UNL. Accessed June 21, 2013: http://historicbuildings.unl.edu/people.php?peopleID=20&cid=14
4. “Charlton House National Register Nomination,” 1996, by J. S. Stumpff. Accessed June 21, 2013: http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/lancaster/LC00-127-Charlton-Hse.PDF
5. City of Lincoln, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, 1884-1949. Check reference.
6. Building Specifications, in Ellis P. Hamer Collection, MSS, Nebraska State Historical Society, Archives (copy in Architects file).
7. “The Lindell Hotel, Corner M and Thirteenth Streets,” Lincoln Daily Call (January 1, 1893), 3:3-4.
8. Jim McKee, Personal Correspondence with E. F. Zimmer, March 6th, 1998. On file at the City of Lincoln Planning Department.
9. "Ruins of the Haish Building." Accessed June 25, 2013: http://memories.ne.gov/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/nwu&CISOPTR=22&CISOBOX=1&REC=19.
10. Gosen, Sister Loretta, History of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, 1887-1987. Lincoln, Nebraska: Catholic Bishop of Lincoln, circa 1986, 214.
11. Check reference.
12. Kay Logan-Peters, “East Campus 1896: Agriculture Experiment Station Building,” Historic Buildings of UNL. Accessed June 21, 2013: http://historicbuildings.unl.edu/building.php?b=24
13. Park Hill National Register Nomination, E. F. Zimmer, 2010. See [1].
14. Kay Logan-Peters, “East Campus 1896: Agriculture Experiment Station Building,” Historic Buildings of UNL. Accessed June 21, 2013: http://historicbuildings.unl.edu/building.php?b=24
15. Check reference.
16. Ruth Roberts Sorenson, “An Account of the Roberts Homestead, Lancaster Co., Nebraska,” Section 1. July 6, 1968. (Typescript at Lincoln/Lancaster County Planning Department.)
17. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. See [2].
18. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. See NRHP form and photos.
19. “Irma’s Place in History,” Buffalo Bill's Irma Hotel. Accessed March 8, 2016: http://www.irmahotel.com/about-buffalo-bills-irma-hotel-cody-wy.php
20. Lincoln Trade Review 1:11 (1902), 4.
21. Lincoln Trade Review 1:12 (1902), 3. ($6,000)
22. Blueprints for this project are inscribed "Roberts & Woods." Copies at Lincoln/Lancaster County Planning Dept.
23. Lincoln Trade Review 1:21 (1902), 4.
24. Lincoln Trade Review 1:11 (1902), 4.
25. Lincoln Trade Review 1:3 (1902), 4.
26. Lincoln Trade Review 1:11 (1902), 4.
27. Lincoln Trade Review 1:14 (1902), 3. (plans, 2 s fr., $2,500)
28. Lincoln Trade Review 1:14 (1902), 3.
29. Lincoln Trade Review 1:21 (1902), 3. (plans, 2 s fr., $2,500)
30. Lincoln Trade Review 1:21 (1902), 4.
31. Lincoln Trade Review 1:3 (1902), 4.
32. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. See NRHP form and photos.
33. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. See NRHP form and photos.
Page Citation
E. F. Zimmer and D. Murphy, “Roberts & Woods, Architects,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, March 7, 2016. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, November 22, 2024.
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