Elijah E. Myers (December 29, 1832 – March 5, 1909) was a leading architect of government buildings in the latter half of the 19th century, and the only architect to design the capitol buildings of three U.S. states, the Michigan State Capitol, the

Texas State Capitol The Texas State Capitol is the capitol and seat of government of the American state of Texas. Located in downtown Austin, Texas, the structure houses the offices and chambers of the Texas Legislature and of the Governor of Texas. Designed in 1881 ...

, and the

Colorado State Capitol The Colorado State Capitol Building, located at 200 East Colfax Avenue in Denver, Colorado, United States, is the home of the Colorado General Assembly and the offices of the Governor of Colorado and Lieutenant Governor of Colorado. History ...

. He also designed buildings in Mexico and Brazil. Myers' designs favored

Victorian Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

and Neo-Classical styles, but he worked in other styles as well.

Biography

He was born on December 29, 1832, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, the second largest city in the country, at the time. Historians suggest Myers may have studied

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

under Samuel Sloan before serving in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. On March 24, 1860, Myers married Mary Haines, the daughter of a prominent businessman, John Haines. The Myers family raised five children. In 1863, Elijah and Mary decided to move westward, settling in Springfield, Illinois, where they lived for nine years. In 1872 they moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

while Myers was working on the Michigan State Capitol, where they remained. In 1881, he won the competition for the best design for the new

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

capitol in Austin. He was paid $12,000 USD ($289,000 in 2018) to be the project's architect, and the capitol cost $3,700,000 USD to build. Other examples of his work are the parliament buildings in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, the asylum building in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, as well as multiple courthouses, churches, hospitals, and city halls throughout the United States. Myers had conflicts with fellow architects, who he claimed stole his designs and sued, and sometimes his clients. He was fired from the Texas Capitol project in 1886 over complaints that he was not giving enough attention to the project, and his design was subsequently changed. He was also fired from the Colorado State Capitol project and the Howell Library project, apparently in disputes about money. In 1879, Myers sued Edwin May, the architect of a new

Indiana State House The Indiana Statehouse is the List of state capitols in the United States, state capitol building of the U.S. state of Indiana. It houses the Indiana General Assembly, the office of the Governor of Indiana, the Indiana Supreme Court, and other st ...

, claiming that elements of design were stolen. Myers lost the lawsuit. In 1891, Myers applied for the position of Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury but another was chosen. During the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, Myers served on the Board of Examiners for the fair's buildings. Myers died at home in Detroit on March 5, 1909. The day following his death, his obituary was shown in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. The only known portrait of Myers hangs in the Elijah Myers room of the Michigan State Capitol. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery. His grave was unmarked until 2009, when funds were raised and a memorial erected by the Elijah E. Myers Memorial Commission.

Legacy

On January 5, 1914, the Supreme Court decided , in Myers' favor. The cases was a business dispute between Myers and his attorney, George W. Radford, involving litigation about the unbuilt Luzerne County Courthouse.

Works

* Lincoln Memorial, 1868 (unbuilt) * Macoupin County Courthouse,

Carlinville, Illinois Carlinville is a city and the county seat of Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. It is also the home of Blackburn College, a small college affiliated with the Presbyterian church, and the former home of Prairie Farms Dairy. As of the 2020 ...

, 1870 * Michigan State Capitol, Lansing, Michigan, 1872 * First Presbyterian Church,

Albion, Michigan Albion is a city in Calhoun County in the south central region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,616 at the 2010 census and is part of the Battle Creek Metropolitan Statistical Area. The earliest English ...

, c. 1873 (burned 1883, but the shell was incorporated in the replacement) * President's House, Michigan State University,

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...

, 1874 (demolished 1940s) * Grosvernor House,

Jonesville, Michigan Jonesville is a city in Hillsdale County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,176 at the 2020 census. History The area was first settled by brothers Benaiah and Edmund Jones, who came here from Painesville, Ohio in 1828 and purch ...

, 1874 * Lansing High School, Lansing, Michigan, 1875 (demolished summer 2006) * Residence of William A Butler, 811 W Lafayette, Detroit, Mi. * Residence of Philo Parsons, 2966 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI. * Plymouth Congregational Church, 1877 (burned, 1971) * Eastern Michigan Asylum for the Insane (Clinton Valley Center), Pontiac, Michigan, c. 1878 (demolished, 2000) * Grant County Courthouse, Marion, Indiana, c. 1880 (dome removed) * Lorain County Courthouse,

Elyria, Ohio Elyria ( ) is a city in the Greater Cleveland metropolitan statistical area and the county seat of Lorain County, Ohio, Lorain County, Ohio, United States, located at the forks of the Black River (Ohio), Black River in Northeast Ohio 23 miles sou ...

, c. 1881 - same design as Grant County, Indiana (dome also removed) *

Austin, Texas 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 ...

, 1881 *

Harper Hospital Harper University Hospital is one of eight hospitals and institutes that compose the Detroit Medical Center. Harper offers services in a broad range of clinical areas, including cardiology, neurology, neurosurgery, organ transplant, plastic surge ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, 1883 (demolished in 1977) * Knox County Courthouse,

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

, 1885 * Idaho Territorial Capitol, c. 1885 *

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 1885 * Seneca County Courthouse,

Tiffin, Ohio Tiffin is a city in and the county seat of Seneca County, Ohio, United States. Developed along the Sandusky River, which flows to Lake Erie, Tiffin is about 55 miles southeast of Toledo. The population was 17,963 at the 2010 census.Live Demo Cam
* (Old) City Hall, Richmond, Virginia, c. 1887 * Central United Methodist Church, Lansing, Michigan, 1888 * Grand Rapids City Hall,

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

, 1888 (demolished 1960s) * Alumni Hall, Knox College,

, 1890 * San Joaquin County Courthouse, Stockton, California, c. 1891 (demolished 1961) * Stockbridge Town Hall, Stockbridge, Michigan, 1892 * Grand Rapids Police Headquarters,

, 1892 (demolished 1960s) * Columbia Buildings,

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, c. 1890 (demolished) * Asylum, Mexico City, Mexico, ante 1893 * Brazilian Parliament Building, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, ante 1893 (demolished) * Luzerne County Courthouse,

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the s ...

, 1894 (unbuilt) * Bay City City Hall,

Bay City, Michigan Bay City is a city and county seat of Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and it is the principal city of the Bay City Metrop ...

, 1897 * Helen Newberry Nurses Home,

, 1898"Seven Michigan Properties Added to the National Register of Historic Places,"
press release, Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL), August 7, 2008. * Howell Carnegie District Library,

Howell, Michigan Howell is the largest city and county seat of Livingston County, Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 9,489. The city is mostly surrounded by Howell Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Howell is part o ...

, 1902 * McDonough County Courthouse,

Macomb, Illinois Macomb is a city in and the county seat of McDonough County, Illinois, United States. It is situated in western Illinois, southwest of Galesburg. The city is about southwest of Peoria and south of the Quad Cities. A special census held in ...

* Stephenson County Courthouse,

Freeport, Illinois Freeport is the county seat and largest city of Stephenson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 23,973 at the 2020 census, and the mayor of Freeport is Jodi Miller, elected in 2017. Freeport is known for hosting the second Linc ...

* Silverton Miner's Union Hospital 1907,

Silverton, Colorado Silverton is a statutory town that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in San Juan County, Colorado, United States. The town is located in a remote part of the western San Juan Mountains, a ra ...

, under restoration 2014

References

Other sources

*''Asylum: Pontiac's Grand Monument from the Gilded Age'', Bruce J. Annett Jr., *"A Michigan Architect in Indiana: Elijah E. Myers and the Business of Architecture in the Gilded Age", Ronald D. Rarick, ''The Michigan Historical Review Vol. 26, No. 2, Fall 2000'' *''Elijah E. Myers: Politics, patronage, and professionalism'', Paul Goeldner *"The Designing Architect: Elijah E. Myers", Paul Goeldner, ''Southwestern Historical Quarterly 92 (October 1988)'' *''Radford v. Myers'' 231 U.S. 725 (1914)

External links

*
Myers biography, Colorado State websitehistorical marker for Central United Methodist Churchhistorical marker for Clinton Valley Centerhistorical marker for First Presbyterian Church of Albionhistorical marker for Grosvernor Househistorical marker for Plymouth Congregational Churchhistorical marker for Stockbridge Town Hall''Radford v. Myers''Toledo Blade article on Myers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, Elijah E. 1832 births 1909 deaths 19th-century American architects Artists from Detroit Architects from Philadelphia Architects from Detroit People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War 20th-century American architects Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit)