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 w ...

Biography

Early life

Mark Lemmon was born in

Gainesville, Texas Gainesville is a city in and the county seat of Cooke County, Texas, United States. Its population was 16,002 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Texoma region and is an important Agri-business center. History Founded in 1850, the city of Gain ...

, 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, 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, 11,075 ...

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 France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

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 List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

-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 hav ...

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. 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 , prov ...

, 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, Longview,

Terrell Terrell, Terell, Terrel, or Terrelle may refer to: Places United States *Terrell, Georgia, unincorporated community *Terrell, North Carolina, unincorporated community in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States *Terrell, Texas, city in Kau ...

Grand Prairie Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis counties of Texas, in the United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It had a population of 175,396 according to the 2010 census, making it th ...

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 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,

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...

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 of ...

and

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

; 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 U ...

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 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 Dallas Historical Society is an organization dedicated to the history of Dallas, Texas (USA). It was organized on March 31, 1922, by citizens who wished to encourage historical inquiry. In 1938, the Society assumed the management of the Hall o ...

, the City Club Dallas, the Idlewild Club and the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

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 Artists from Dallas University of Texas at Austin alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni 20th-century American architects People from Sherman, Texas