George F. Hammond
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George Francis Hammond (November 26, 1855 – April 26, 1938) was an
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 ...
in
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, Ohio, United States, who designed commercial buildings, hotels, schools, churches, residences, and the plans for
Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...
's layout and original buildings. His work is mostly
Neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
, including in the
Beaux Arts Architecture Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorpora ...
style, and includes an example of
Egyptian Revival Egyptian Revival is an architectural style that uses the motifs and imagery of ancient Egypt. It is attributed generally to the public awareness of ancient Egyptian monuments generated by Napoleon's conquest of Egypt and Admiral Nelson's defeat ...
architecture in the basement foyer of the Hollenden Hotel.


Early life

Hammond was born in the Roxbury section of
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
to George and Cornelia Johnson Hammond. He painted before becoming a professional architect
Thomas William Herringshaw Thomas William Herringshaw (January 27, 1858 – June 27, 1927) was an American journalist, publisher, genealogist and biographical author, best known for editing and publishing biographical reference works.'Herringshaw, Thomas William', ''He ...
,
Herringshaw's national library of American biography
contains thirty-five thousand biographies of the acknowledged leaders of life and thought of the United States; illustrated with three thousand vignette portraits'', Volume 3, American Publishers' Association, 1914. Original from the New York Public Library Digitized Dec 11, 2008
and attended the Massachusetts Normal Art School. He studied with William R. Ware at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
, founded the first American
curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...
based on the Beaux-Arts system of architectural training.


Career

In 1876, Hammond worked as a draftsman in the office of William G. Preston and in the office of William Ware in Boston. He began independent work in 1878 and became part of the Koehler & Hammond firm for a year, bringing him to Cleveland in 1885 to work on the Hollenden Hotel. He moved to Cleveland in 1886. He was active in Cleveland until 1926.George F. Hammond
Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
Hammond lived at 1863 Caldwell Road in Cleveland Heights.George F. Hammond
City planning Commission City of Cleveland
He designed hospitals, schools, factories, and power buildings in Chicago, Kansas City, New Orleans, Toronto, and Montreal. Hammond's home in
Cleveland Heights Cleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs. The city's population was 45,312 at the 2020 census. As of the 2010 census, Cleveland Heights was ranked the 8th largest ...
is "a fine Colonial Revival residence". Hammond designed several suburban homes, especially in the Clifton Park area of Lakewood and published ''A Treatise on Hospital and Asylum Construction'' in 1891.


Hollenden Hotel

Liberty E. Holden commissioned Hammond to design the 8-story Hollenden Hotel in Cleveland, one of the area's first hotels to be made fire resistant. It was said to have been outfitted handsomely with "massive redwood and mahogany fittings", exclusively designed furniture, a crystal dining room that politicians used as a meeting place. It "boasted electric lights, 100 private baths, and fireproof construction" Encyclopedia of Cleveland
/ref> Much of the interior design work was overseen by Hammond. The hotel was said to have had the longest bar in town, and to have been a meeting place for precinct workers, when it was not hosting "colorful balls and festivities". Five presidents, McKinley,
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
, Taft, Wilson and Harding, and many other dignitaries and celebrities stayed at the hotel. It was upgraded and expanded in a $5 million effort and was managed by several owners until 1960 when the 600 Superior Corporation bought it, but two years later with developer Jas M. Carney they demolished mostly empty guest house and built a new 400 room Hollenden House and parking garage that opened in 1965. With the decline of downtown Cleveland it became unprofitable in the 1980s and closed permanently in 1989. John W. Galbreath built a 32-story office building on the site. Hammond wrote an article in ''Concrete-cement Age'', "An Unusual Work in Concrete and Stone", about his application of
Egyptian architecture Spanning over three thousand years, ancient Egypt was not one stable civilization but in constant change and upheaval, commonly split into periods by historians. Likewise, ancient Egyptian architecture is not one style, but a set of styles diff ...
in his design work at the Hammend Hotel in Cleveland. He originally wanted the foyer by the elevator on each floor to represent a different country, but eventually the plan was not adopted, but the basement foyer was modeled after it and made to imitate "red Syrene granite" architecture of Egypt. The article is illustrated with a view of the hotel's basement elevator foyer showing the completed work carried out by The George Rackle & Sons Co. of Cleveland including columns types Hammond said were found at
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
's
Philae temple The Philae temple complex (; grc-gre, Φιλαί or Φιλή and Πιλάχ, ar, فيلة  , Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''p3-jw-rķ' or 'pA-jw-rq''; cop, ⲡⲓⲗⲁⲕ, ⲡⲓⲗⲁⲕϩ, )is an island-based temple complex in the rese ...
, as well as panels featuring
Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
and
Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...
sculpted by Jirouch of Fisher and Jirouch Co. Hammons spoke of his own trip to Egypt and the "1,500 to 2,000" negatives he made to use along with pictures from professional photographers.Concrete-cement age, Volume 3
December 1913 edited by Allen Brett, Harvey Whipple page 251
He also wrote foreword praising Skeleton construction in buildings.


Other work

He planned a $6,000 residence for C.L. Lane at 54 Front Street in Berea, Ohio


Personal life

Hammond married Annie Borland Barstow in 1883 and after her death in 1886 married Annie E. Butcher of Toronto in 1897 and they had a child Adelaide. They divorced in 1922 and Hammond's third wife was Dorothy Weirick, whom he divorced in 1931. Hammond retired in 1926 and died in
Falls Village, Connecticut Falls Village is a village and census-designated place in the town of Canaan in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 538, out of 1,234 in the entire town of Canaan. Because Falls Village is t ...
in 1938, although his obituary says Pittsfield, Massachusetts.


Selected projects

* Hollenden Hotel (1885) at the corner of Superior and East 6th (demolished 1962) He also authored ''Architectural Competitions for Public Buildings'' noted in Engineering magazine for subscription. * Stark County Courthouse (1895), a building in the Beaux Arts Classicism architecture style. * Lane Metropolitan Church (1900) at 2131 East 46 * Zanesville Federal BuildingGeorge F. Hammond
Cleveland Architects Cleveland Landmarks Commission
*Master campus plan and five original buildings of the Ohio State Normal College At Kent (
Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...
), 1911-15 including: **Lowry Hall **Merrill Hall **Administration Building (later renamed Cartwright Hall) **Science Hall (later renamed Kent Hall) *Electric Building (1900) at 700 Prospect Avenue *Original South Brooklyn Public Library (1905), in Cleveland. The library has since moved... *Industrial Building (1909) 2336-2344 of Canal Road in Cleveland * McKinley High School (1921), 800 North Market Street a classical revival school building in Cleveland.Stark County
Old McKinley High School (added 1982 - Building - #82003649) 800 N. Market St., Canton National Register of Historic Places website


Demolished

*Gillsy Hotel (demolished)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, George F. 1855 births 1938 deaths Kent State University Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Architects from Boston Architects from Cleveland