Charles A. Bickel (1852 – 1 February 1921) was a prominent

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

practicing in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. Bickel was born to a well-to-do family of

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

who sent him to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

for six years to prepare him for a career in architecture. On his return in 1875, he settled in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, apprenticed with an architect there. In 1885 he opened his independent practice, at first in partnership with J.P. Brennan, a partnership that was soon dissolved. Bickel's practice at its height averaged $3,000,000 a year in billings and was concentrated in commercial structures. He served for a time as architect to the city of Pittsburgh, and designed and built numerous police precinct houses and the Public Safety offices. Failing health forced him to retire in 1920, and he turned his practice over to his son.

Selected commissions

Many of Bickel's commercial structure were of fireproof construction. *Logan-Gregg Hardware Company building, eight storeys. *Spear & Company, ten storeys *May Building, twelve storeys * German National Bank, 313 Sixth Avenue, downtown Pittsburgh, eight storeys, 1890 *Columbia National Bank, ten storeys *Methodist Book Concern building, eight storeys *United Presbyterian Book building, eleven storeys * H. and I Kaufman and I. Kaufman stores, ten and twelve storeys, 1898 *Hartje Building, twelve storeys, and three Hartje storeys *B. White Building, eight storeys *Atlantic Financial Building, 1889 * Pittsburgh Terminal Warehouse and Transfer Company, 1906 *Haines Building, ten storeys *McKay Building, eight storeys *Olympia Theatre *

Reymer Brothers Candy Factory The Reymer Brothers Candy Factory (also known as the Forbes Pride Building, or Forbes Med-Tech Center) is located in the Bluff neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Built in 1906, it was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. The bui ...

at 1425 Forbes Avenue in the

Bluff Bluff or The Bluff may refer to: Places Australia * Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town * The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich * The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality * Bluff River (New So ...

neighborhood of Pittsburgh, 1910 *

Concordia Club The O'Hara Student Center, formerly the Concordia Club, is a three-story, building on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh on O'Hara Street in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is a contributing property to the Schen ...

, 1913 *Second Presbyterian church, Eighth Street *

South Side Market Building The South Side Market Building, also known as the South Side Market House, is an historic, American market house that is located at 12th and Bingham Streets in the South Side Flats neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Built in 1915, it was a ...

at 12th and Bingham Streets in the

South Side Flats The South Side Flats is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's South Side area. It is located just south of the Monongahela River. The neighborhood has one of the City of Pittsburgh's largest concentrations of 19th-century homes, which ha ...

neighborhood of Pittsburgh, 1915 * Frank & Seder Building 1918 *Methodist Episcopal Church, Lincoln Avenue *German Savings and Trust Company *Duquesne National Bank *National Ben Franklin Fire Insurance Company Building *Westmoreland Club, in Verona, Pennsylvania *N. Nathan & Brothers Building, Johnstown, Pennsylvania *Number 7 Police Station, 93 S. 13th and 1305 Sarah StP.H.L.F. News, December 2007, p. 16

Gallery

File:GraniteBuildingPittsburgh.jpg, Granite Building (former German National Bank) (1890), in

Downtown Pittsburgh Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River whose ...

. Architects Bickel & Brennan. File:Terminal Transfer Company Warehouse.JPG, Pittsburgh Terminal Warehouse and Transfer Company (1906), in the

neighborhood of Pittsburgh File:ReymerBrothersCandyFactory.jpg,

(1910), in the

neighborhood of Pittsburgh

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bickel, Charles 1852 births 1921 deaths People from Columbus, Ohio 19th-century American architects Architects from Pittsburgh 20th-century American architects