Murry S. King (1870–1927) (often spelled "Murray") was Florida's first registered architect, a noted American

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 ...

with a successful practice in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, in the 1910s and 1920s.

Life and career

King was born on July 13, 1870, in

East Deer Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania East Deer Township is a township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,500 at the 2010 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land ...

, near

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 ...

, the son of Robert and Mary King. He moved to Orlando from Pennsylvania in 1904. King was a charter member of the Florida State Association of Architects and served on the Florida State Board of Architecture. He was a member of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

. In 1890 Murry S. King married Ruth Ann ("Anna") Riley Dible. Their children were: Leroy (1890), Florence (1893), James B. (1894), Murry Jr (1896), Merrit (1896), and Edward (1901), Pearl (1903), all of whom were born in Pennsylvania. His son, James B. King entered into his architectural practice in the mid-1920s. Mr. King's first name appears both as "Murry" and "Murray" in contemporary sources and in Orlando histories. It is spelled "Murray" in contemporary references such as his business listing in many issues of ''The Winter Park Post'' and Orlando telephone directories, as well as the excellent photograph and brief biographical sketch of "Murray S. King" available at the following: http://www.cfhf.net/orlando/people/king.htm However, a photograph of downtown Orlando with the sign outside his office, recently found by Orlando historians Joy Wallace Dickinson and Rick Kilby, shows the spelling as "Murry". Murry S. King died in Orlando on Sep. 20, 1925.

Legacy

From offices in Rooms 22 and 23 of the Watkins Block in Orlando, King designed handsome, dignified buildings, primarily in the Neo-Classical,

Spanish Revival The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In the ...

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

and

Prairie Style Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hip roof, hipped roofs with broad Overhang (architecture), ove ...

. King is noted for civic buildings of lasting elegance and beauty, the best known of which may be his last completed work, the stately Orange County Courthouse building which is now the headquarters of the

Orange County Regional History Center The Orange County Regional History Center is a private non-profit history museum located in downtown Orlando, Florida, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or Ameri ...

(1927). Constructed of variegated Indiana limestone from the Clear Creek Quarries of the Indiana Limestone Company, the completion of the building was supervised by Murry S. King's son, James B. King. King was the recognized leading architect among a group of architectural firms in Orlando in the 1920s. The others included:

Frank L. Bodine Frank Lee Bodine (April 10, 1874 – after 1930) was an American architect who practiced in Asbury Park, New Jersey and in Orlando, Florida in the first four decades of the twentieth century. Bodine was born April 10, 1874 in Bridgeton, New Jers ...

Fred E. Field Frederick E. Field (November 7, 1861 –1931) was an American architect who practiced in Providence, Rhode Island, and Orlando, Florida, in the period between 1883 and 1927. His professional training took place at Cornell University. In 1883, Fi ...

Frederick H. Trimble Frederick H. Trimble was an American architect in Central Florida from the early 1900s through the 1920s. He worked in the Colonial Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival and Prairie Style. Buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places ...

David Hyer David Burns Hyer (May 21, 1875 – December 11, 1942) was an American architect who practiced in Charleston, South Carolina and Orlando, Florida during the first half of the twentieth century, designing civic buildings in the Neoclassical Reviv ...

George E. Krug George Edward Krug (also known as Jorge Krug) was an American architect who practiced in Greater New York City (from Orange, New Jersey), São Paulo, Brazil and Orlando, Florida. George Edward Krug was born in 1869 in Brazil, the son of Jean and I ...

Howard M. Reynolds Howard Montalbert Reynolds, Sr. (June 17, 1885 - October 21, 1943) was an American architect practicing in Orlando, Florida in the 1920s. He designed gracefully proportioned, notable public buildings in the prevailing fashionable styles of the 1 ...

, Ryan and Roberts (

Ida Annah Ryan Ida Annah Ryan (1873–1950) was a pioneering United States architect known for her work in Massachusetts and Florida. She was the first woman to receive a Master of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the first woman to re ...

and

Isabel Roberts Isabel Roberts (March 1871 – December 27, 1955) was a Prairie School figure, member of the architectural design team in the Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright and partner with Ida Annah Ryan in the Orlando, Florida architecture firm, "R ...

) and Percy P. Turner. This group of architects was quite intentional about creating in Central Florida a style of architecture that was suited to the region. Here is how they described it in an article from The Florida Circle of May 1924: ''"Just as architects of old created styles to harmonize with their environment, so have the architects of Florida been creating, from native motifs, a style that is carefully adapted to the climatic conditions and surroundings of the state. This style has an individuality all its own and should have a fitting name to express its origins . . . The Florida Association of Architects will give a prize of $25.00 for the name selected." ''Submissions were to be sent to King; the contest was to conclude in November 1924 and the winning name announced thereafter.

Architectural works

* Wescot Beardall House, 214 S. Lucerne Circle, Orlando - 1912 * Yowell-Duckworth (later Ivey's) Department Store Building,1 South Orange Avenue, Orlando, FL – 1913 * First Presbyterian Church, Orlando, FL – 1914 * Robert McDonald Residence, Winter Park, Fl – before 1915 * Tiedkie Residence, Magnolia Avenue, Orlando, FL – before 1915 * Astor Hotel, 215-217 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL – before 1915 * Grand Theater, Orlando, FL – before 1915 * Seth B. Woodruff Residence, 236 S. Lucerne Circle, Orlando FL – 1916 * Phillips Theater, 23-19 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL - 1916 * H.M. Beardall House, 700 Euclid Ave., Orlando, FL - 1920 * C. J. Early Residence (demolished), 711 Main Ln., Orlando, FL - 1920 * L. M. Autrey Residence, 108 Hillcrest Avenue, Orlando, FL - 1921 * Athens Theater, 124 N. Florida Avenue, DeLand, Florida – 1921-1922 *

Angebilt Hotel The Angebilt Hotel is a hotel located in Orlando, Florida at 37 North Orange Avenue. Designed by architect Murray S. King, the 11-story building was built from 1921-1923 and opened on March 14, 1923. It was operated by Joseph Fenner Ange since th ...

(now offices and retail space), 37 North Orange Avenue, Orlando, FL - 1921-1923 * Watkins Block offices, Orlando, FL - before 1923 * Hotel Wyoming - additions, 424 Magnolia Avenue, Orlando, FL – 1923 * State Bank and Trust Company Building (One North Orange), Orlando FL - 1923 * Albertson Public Library, 165 E Central Avenue, Orlando, FL – 1923 * Park Lake Presbyterian Church, 309 E Colonial Dr., Orlando, FL - 1924 * Rose Building, 49 North Orange Avenue, Orlando, FL - 1924 * Orange County Courthouse (now Orange County Regional History Center); 65 E. Central Blvd., Orlando FL - 1926-7 * 803 Lake Adair Blvd., Orlando - 1926 * 729 Alameda Street, Orlando - 1927Reference for some of the above: Hidden Treasures Of Design: Legends Of Architecture Left Marks On Local Scene; Orlando Sentinel, by Mary Shankin, December 24, 2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Murry S. People from Orlando, Florida 1870 births 1925 deaths Architects from Florida