Oscar Ruffini (10 April 1858–18 January 1957) 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 ...

San Angelo, Texas San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Plai ...

. He was the first civic architect in the city and was responsible for many buildings across West Texas in the last 20 years of the 19th century.

Early life

Oscar Ruffini was born on 10 April 1858 to Germans Ernest Ruffini and Adelaide Reihme, who migrated to the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

shortly after their marriage in 1848. Oscar and his siblings,

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederi ...

, Alvin, Clara, and Camilla, were raised 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 Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Documentation on Oscar's life before his arrival in

is spotty, but at 14 he and Frederick were apprenticed to a Cleveland-based architect. Oscar went independent four years later, while Frederick remained under the architect's tutelage.

Architectural career

From 1875 to 1877, Oscar worked for an architect in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

named George W. Rapp. From 1878 to 1880, he may have been residing and studying in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, though it is not known where exactly he studied. Ruffini was back in the United States by 1880, as he was at that time working in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

. He then worked in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

from 1882 to 1883 in an unknown capacity. In early 1883, Frederick called Oscar to work for his practice in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. Oscar came to San Angelo in 1884, and settled permanently there shortly thereafter.

Architectural style and legacy

Ruffini's style leaned in a Neoclassical direction. Surviving sketchbooks in the possession of the

Fort Concho Fort Concho is a former United States Army installation and National Historic Landmark District located in San Angelo, Texas. It was established in November 1867 at the confluence of the North and South Concho Rivers, on the routes of the But ...

Museum contain studies and sketches of Classical statuary and architectural details. Rather than

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

, in vogue in Paris during the 1870s, when Ruffini was alleged to have been studying there, Ruffini was influenced strongly by the

Second Empire style Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which uses elements of many different historical styles, and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as i ...

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

. A number of Ruffini's works featured metal construction, which he most likely learned while working in St. Louis. Metal construction became more and more popular in the United States in the 1850s and mid-1880s. It was used in great effect in the central warehouses in St. Louis during the 1870s. A number of Ruffini's works are listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. *

Concho County Courthouse The Concho County Courthouse on Public Sq. in Paint Rock, Texas is a courthouse built in 1886. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It was designed in Second Empire style by architect F.E. Ruffini and was built unde ...

, Public Sq., Paint Rock, TX *

Crockett County Courthouse The Crockett County Courthouse is a historic courthouse built in 1902 at 907 Ave D, Ozona, Texas, United States. The Second Empire (architecture), Second Empire style building was designed by Oscar Ruffini of San Angelo, Texas, San Angelo. It was a ...

, 907 Ave. D, Ozona, TX * Harris Drug Store, 114 S. Chadbourne St., San Angelo, TX * Mason-Hughes House, 1104 W. Beauregard, San Angelo, TX * Montgomery Ward Building, 10 W. Beauregard, San Angelo, TX * J. J. Rackley Building, 118 S. Chadbourne, San Angelo, TX * San Angelo National Bank, Johnson and Taylor, and Schwartz and Raas Buildings, 20–22, 24, 26 E. Concho Ave., San Angelo, TX * Sutton County Courthouse, Public Sq., Sonora, TX * Tom Green County Jail, US 67, San Angelo, TX

Citations

References

* *

External links

Texas Courthouses on Texas Escapes.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruffini, Oscar Architects from Texas People from San Angelo, Texas 1858 births 1957 deaths 19th-century American architects 20th-century American architects