Mark Lemmon (1889–1975) was an American architect from

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

Biography

Early life

Mark Lemmon was born in Gainesville, Texas in 1889.Texas State Historical Association: Mark Lemmon
/ref> His father was William Leonard and his mother, Cosette (Libscomb) Lemmon. He moved to

Sherman, Texas Sherman is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas. The city's population in 2020 was 43,645. It is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison metropolitan statistical area, and it is part of the Texoma region ...

with his family when he was eight years old. He graduated from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

with a Bachelor of Science in Geology in 1912 and received another bachelor's degree in Architecture and Engineering from the

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 ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

in 1916. He served in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Career

He worked for the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

-based architectural firm

Warren and Wetmore Warren and Wetmore was an architecture firm in New York City which was a partnership between Whitney Warren (1864–1943) and Charles Delevan Wetmore (June 10, 1866 – May 8, 1941), that had one of the most extensive practices of its time and w ...

, where he focused on The Commodore Hotel in New York City and

The Broadmoor The Broadmoor (stylized as THE BRODMOOR) is a hotel and resort in the Broadmoor neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Broadmoor is a member of Historic Hotels of America of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Its visitors h ...

in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He moved to

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

and worked for Hal Thompson until 1921. He then partnered with

Roscoe DeWitt Roscoe DeWitt (1894–1975) was an American architect. He designed many buildings in Texas, including houses, libraries, hospitals, schools, churches and several buildings on the campus of Southern Methodist University. Early life Roscoe Plimpton ...

(1894-1975) until 1927. During that period of time, they designed the Sunset High School, the Woodrow Wilson High School, some buildings on the campus of

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

, and the

Highland Park United Methodist Church Highland Park United Methodist Church is a United Methodist church in Dallas, Texas. Location It is located on the campus of Southern Methodist University, at 3300 Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, TX 75205. History In February 1916, a Methodist congreg ...

. From 1927 to 1940, he designed the Highland Park Presbyterian Church, public schools in Port Arthur,

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

, Longview, Terrell, Grand Prairie and Sherman. Additionally, he also designed the Cotton Bowl, and the Third Church of Christ, Scientist. Later, he also designed the

Tower Petroleum Building The Tower Petroleum Building (also known as The Tower Building) is a historic Art Deco Skyscraper located at 1907 Elm Street in the City Center District of Downtown Dallas. The tower, a contributing property in the Dallas Downtown Historic Distric ...

, the Boude Storey Junior High School, and the Alex Spence Junior High School. He also designed the Cokesbury Bookstore, which hosted book signings by

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

, John Steinbeck,

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most o ...

and

Howard Cosell Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

; however, it was demolished in 1993. In the mid-1930s, he went on to design the Museum of Natural History and the

Hall of State The Hall of State (originally the State of Texas Building) is a building in Dallas's Fair Park that commemorates the history of the U.S. state of Texas and is considered one of the best examples of Art Deco architecture in the state. It was desig ...

. He was a consulting architect for the

Dallas Independent School District The Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD or DISD) is a school district based in Dallas, Texas ( USA). It operates schools in much of Dallas County and is the second-largest school district in Texas and the seventeenth-largest in the ...

from 1945 to 1968. Moreover, from 1948 to 1959, he also designed eighteen

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

-style buildings on the campus of

, including the Fondren Science Building and the Perkins Chapel. He also designed buildings for the University of Texas at Austin,

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Ga ...

and

. He designed the now demolished original building of Hyer Elementary School for Highland Park Independent School District. Lemmon also designed the campus and the many additions of Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in the Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas, TX. The building is wonderfully preserved and is a prime example of Lemmon’s

style buildings. Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church

He was a member of the Texas Philosophical Society, the Dallas Historical Society, the City Club Dallas, the Idlewild Club and the American Legion.

Personal life

He married Maybelle Reynolds on November 14, 1922. They had two sons. He died on December 22, 1975 in Dallas, Texas, where he was buried in the Hillcrest Mausoleum.

Bibliography

Secondary sources

* Richard R. Brettell, Willis Winters, ''Crafting Traditions: The Architecture of Mark Lemmon'', Dallas, Texas: Southern Methodist University Press, 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemmon, Mark 1889 births 1975 deaths People from Gainesville, Texas People from Dallas University of Texas at Austin alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni 20th-century American architects People from Sherman, Texas