Thomas Wilson Williamson (August 4, 1887

Hiawatha, Kansas Hiawatha (Chiwere language, Ioway: ''Hári Wáta'' pronounced ) is the largest city and county seat of Brown County, Kansas, Brown County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 3, ...

Thomas Wilson Williamson - Kansas Memory - Kansas Historical Society
Retrieved 2017-03-09. – November 16, 1974) was a

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

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 ...

who specialized in designing school buildings in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, and

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. Williamson grew up in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...

and is best known for designing

Topeka High School Topeka High School (THS) is a public secondary school in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It serves students in grades 9 to 12, and is one of five high schools operated by the Topeka USD 501 school district. In the 2010–2011 school year, there w ...

, a magnificent

Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-c ...

public high school, completed in 1931. Assisting Williamson was his chief designer Ted Greist, and Linus Burr Smith from Kansas State College (now

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

) to oversee the plans. Williamson and Griest also designed Clay Elementary School (now

Cair Paravel-Latin School Cair Paravel Latin School (often referred to as CPLS or just Cair Paravel) is a private, coeducational, non-profit, non-denominational Christian school located in Topeka, Kansas, United States. The school was founded in 1980. With over 400 stud ...

), which was completed in 1926. Thomas W. Williamson (1887-1974), whose full name was Thomas Wilson Williamson, was an American

. He practiced architecture for more than 50 years, designing schools and courthouses in Kansas and neighboring U.S. states. A number of his works were 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 ...

for their architecture. Firm names including him operated as Thomas W. Williamson and Company, as Thomas W. Williamson, Victor H. Loebsack & Associates, and later as Williamson-Loebsack and Associates. The firm grew to a size of 46 architects, draftsmen, engineers and other specialists.

Early life

He was born in 1886 or 1887 in

. He graduated from

in 1907. He then attended the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and graduated with an A.B. degree from its school of architecture and returned to Kansas in 1911. He worked briefly for the Kansas state architect's office and for one year for architect John F. Stanton (whose El Dorado Carnegie Library is NRHP-listed). He then opened his own practice in 1912.

Career

He designed schools. He designed courthouses. He designed the Jayhawk Theater and linked hotel in Topeka in 1926.

Works

Works include (with attribution to self or firm): * Cheyenne County Courthouse (1924–25), 212 E. Washington St., St. Francis, Kansas (Williamson, Thomas W. & Co.), NRHP-listed and * Jayhawk Hotel, Theater and Walk (1926), 700 Jackson Ave., Topeka, (Williamson,Thomas W.), NRHP-listed *

(1931 campus), 800 SW 10th Ave., Topeka, (Williamson, Thomas W.), NRHP-listed * Washington Grade School (1938), 209 S. Locust St.

Pittsburg, Kansas Pittsburg is a city in Crawford County, Kansas, United States, located in southeast Kansas near the Missouri state border. It is the most populous city in Crawford County and southeast Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the ci ...

(Williamson, Thomas W. & Co.), NRHP-listed * Central Motor and Finance Corporation Building, 222 W. 7th St.,

(Williamson,Thomas W.), NRHP-listed * Curtis Junior High School, 316 NW Grant St., Topeka, (Williamson, Thomas Wilson), NRHP-listed * Fire Station No. 2--Topeka, 719-723 Van Buren, Topeka, (Williamson, Thomas Wilson), NRHP-listed * Hiawatha Memorial Auditorium, 611 Utah St.,

(Williamson,Thomas W.), NRHP-listed * Sumner Elementary School and Monroe Elementary School, 330 Western Ave. and 1515 Monroe St., Topeka, (Williamson,Thomas W.), NRHP-listed

References

Bibliography

*William Elsey Connelley, ''History of Kansas, State and People'', (1928) *United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places submission for Topeka High School, Shawnee County, Kansas, (22 April 2005)

External links

*
Kansas Memory: Thomas Wilson Williamson
''Kansas Historical Society'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Thomas Wilson 1887 births 1974 deaths 20th-century American architects People from Hiawatha, Kansas Architects from Kansas People from Topeka, Kansas