Louis Adolphe Simon (1867-1958), Architect
Louis Adolphe Simon was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1869, son of Margaret (nee Torney) and Adolph J. L. Simon. Adolph was a dry goods merchant. In 1894, Louis graduated from M. I. T. and opened a private archiectural practice in Baltimore, which he operated until 1896, when he was appointed to the Office of Supervising Architect at the U.S. Treasury Department.[e] That same year he married Theresa McConnor. Simon served as Chief of the Supervising Architect's Architecture Division from 1915 to 1934, during the long tenure of James A. Wetmore. After Wetmore's retirement, Simon was appointed Supervising Architect of the Treasury, directing the designs of federal buildings--post offices, courthouses, customs houses, mints, assay offices, hospitals, and federal office buildings. In 1939-1940, he designed the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, in close consultation with his client--President Roosevelt.[16] When responsibility for the design and construction of federal buildings was transferred from the Treasury Department in 1939, Simon was retained as Supervising Architect of the new Federal Works Agency. He responsible for design of several Nebraska post offices between 1933 and his retirement in 1941. Simon was a Member and Fellow of the Association of Federal Architects, and he was an AIA Member Emeritus in the Washington-Metro Chapter. He also was affiliated with the National Institute of Arts & Letters, All Souls Church, the Cosmos Club, the American Planning and Civic Association, and the Committee of 100 on the Federal City. His foreign travel included England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, and Switzerland.[3][d] Simon died May 11, 1958, survived by his wife Theresa.[2]
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
[hide]Compiled Nebraska Directory Listings
Educational & Professional Associations
1891: completed course in architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston.[5][11]
1891-1892: study travel (3000 miles by bicycle) in Europe (Italy, France and England).[3][5][10][11]
1893-1896: draughtsman (for Wyatt & Nolting) and architect (with J[ohn] Appleton Wilson), Baltimore, Maryland.[3][5][12][13]
1895-1897: founding officer (secretary-treasurer) & active member in the Architects' Club [later Architectural Club], Baltimore, Maryland.[15]
1896-1915: architect in Office of the Supervising Architect of the U. S. Treasury.[5]
1908: joined AIA.[14]
1915-1934: chief, Engineering and Drafting Division, Office of the Supervising Architect of the U. S. Treasury.[5]
1934-1939: Supervising Architect, U. S. Treasury Department.[3][5]
1937: elected as Fellow of AIA.[14]
1940-1942: Supervising Architect, Federal Building Agency.[14]
1942: retired, reappointed consulting architect.[3]
1944: retired.[3]
Architectural Study Travel
England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, and Switzerland.[3]
Buildings & Projects
U.S. Post Office (1934), 120 Pearl St., Wayne, Nebraska.[1] (WY05-053) National Register narrative
U.S. Post Office (1934-1935), 214 E. 4th St., Superior, Nebraska.[1][6][b] (NU13-003)
U.S. Post Office (ca. 1935), 411 Fourth St., David City, Nebraska. (BU05-066)
U.S. Post Office (ca. 1935), 203 E. 6th, Lexington, Nebraska. (DS07-052)
U.S. Post Office (1936), Eastside N. Main between 3rd & 4th , Valentine, Nebraska.[1] (CE14-090) National Register narrative
U,S. Post Office (1936-1937), 410 N. Minden, Minden, Nebraska.[1] (KN04-007) National Register narrative
U.S. Post Office (1936-1937), NW corner 4th & Clay, O’Neill, Nebraska.[1] (HT13-131) National Register narrative
U.S. Post Office (1936-1937), 1320 Courthouse Ave., Auburn, Nebraska.[1][7][c] (NH01-056) National Register narrative
U. S. Post Office (1936-1939), Seward, Nebraska.[4][a] (SW09-166)
U.S. Post Office (1937), 310 W. Church St., Albion, Nebraska.[1] (BO02-004) National Register narrative
U.S. Post Office (1937), SW corner Olive & 5th, Hebron, Nebraska.[1] (TY10-008) National Register narrative
U.S. Post Office (1937-1938), Eastside Spruce bet E 3rd &, Ogallala, Nebraska.[1] (KH04-080) National Register narrative
U.S. Post Office (1938), 144 Main, Crawford, Nebraska.[1] (DW04-007) National Register narrative
U.S. Post Office (1939), 300 N. Webster St., Red Cloud, Nebraska.[1] (WT07-195) National Register narrative
U.S. Post Office (1939-1940), 202 N. 9th, Geneva, Nebraska.[1][8][c] (FM05-126) National Register narrative
U.S. Post Office (1940), 119 E. 11th, Schuyler, Nebraska.[1] (CX06-076) National Register narrative
U.S. Post Office (1940-1941), 703 G, Pawnee City, Nebraska.[1][9][c] (PW06-117) National Register narrative
Notes
a. The building's cornerstone identified Simon as the "Supervising Architect"; Nebraskan Richard W. Grant as "Architect."[4]
b. At the dedication of the Superior Post Office, a U. S. P. O. representative noted "Superior ranks twenty-fourth in size among cities of Nebraska and your federal building is the twenty-eighth to be occupied."[6]
c. The cornerstones of the Auburn, Geneva, and Pawnee City post offices reflected the transfer of federal building design from the Treasury Department to the Public Works Administration in 1939-40. Auburn's inscription in 1936-1937 listed the Secretary of the Treasury above Louis A. Simon as Supervising Architect. At Geneva and Pawnee City in 1940 and 1941, Louis was still identified as "Supervising Architect," but immediately above his name were the Postmaster General, Federal Works Administrator, and Commissioner of Public Buildings.[7-9]
d. Simon obtained a passport in December of 1891. A brief account in the Baltimore Sun in December, 1892, reported: "Mr. Louis A. Simon, who completed the course in architecture at the School of Technology, Boston, has returned to Baltimore, his native city, after a year's absence in Europe, spent in sketching and studying. Over 3,000 miles through Italy, France and England were made on a bicycle."[10][11]
e. Antoinette Lee describes Simon's initial hiring in 1896 by the Treasury Department as "...he was brought into the Supervising Architect's Office by Edward A. Crane," who was one of the senior draughtsmen/designers under William M. Aiken.[14:238]
References
1. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
2. "Louis A. Simon Dies; Retired U. S. Architect," Evening Star (Washington, D. C.) (May 12, 1958), 14 (illustrated).
3. "Simon, Louis A(dolphe)," in AIA Historical Directory of American Architects: A Resource Guide to Finding Information About Past Architects, s.v. "Louis A. Simon," database on-line, accessed December 21, 2024 at https://aiahistoricaldirectory.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/AHDAA/overview
4. Building cornerstone; recorded January, 2013. Nebraska State Historical Society, Historic Preservation Division, image: SW09-166_NSHSstaff-PHaynes_Jan2013_01.jpg
5. Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current, s.v. "Louis Adolph Simon," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
6. "Federal Building Dedicated Here," Superior (Nebraska) Express (June 27, 1935), 4-A.
7. "Lay Cornerstone At New Postoffice," Nemaha County Herald (Auburn, Nebraska) (March 18, 1937), 1.
8. "Post Office Progress" (cornerstone placement), Nebraska Signal (Geneva, Nebraska) (May 2, 1940), 1.
9. "PO Corner Stone Laid Monday, No Ceremony," Pawnee Republican (Pawnee City, Nebraska) (March 13, 1941), 1.
10. Ancestry.com. U.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925, s.v. "Louis Adolph Simon," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.
11. "Mr. Louis A. Simon,..." Baltimore (Maryland) Sun (December 8, 1892), 8.
12. "Simon-McConnor" (marriage announcement), Baltimore (Maryland) Sun (May 7, 1896), 7.
13. "From Norfolk...A handsome residence for Mr. John W. Burrow, from the designs of Messrs. J. Appleton Wilson and Louis A. Simon, Baltimore architects..." Baltimore (Maryland) Sun (August 22, 1893), 2.
14. Antoinette J. Lee, "Louis A. Simon" in Architects to the Nation: The Rise and Decline of the Supervising Architect's Office (Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 258-273.
15. "To Cultivate the Arts. Comprehensive Plan of the Recently Formed Architects' Club," Baltimore (Maryland) Sun (February 16, 1895), 10.
16. "Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum," in Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia, on-line database accessed December 23, 2024 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt_Presidential_Library_and_Museum
Page Citation
D. Murphy & E. F. Zimmer, “Louis Adolphe Simon (1867-1958), Architect,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, March 16, 2015; updated December 23, 2024. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, April 1, 2025.
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