McDonald Brothers (architects)

McDonald Brothers founded in 1878 was a Louisville-based firm of architects of courthouses and other public buildings. It was a partnership of brothers Kenneth McDonald (died 1904), Harry McDonald (aka Henry P. McDonald), and Donald McDonald.[1]

History

Harry McDonald was the senior member of the firm. He served in the American Civil War in the Confederate Army. He was elected to the Kentucky legislature and died while in office in 1904.[1]

Donald McDonald graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1873.[1]

The McDonald Brothers partnership lasted from 1874 until 1896. Kenneth McDonald practiced individually after then, until 1901.[2]

The McDonald Brothers worked during 1896 on a redesign for the Thomas Jefferson-designed Rotunda at the University of Virginia, after it was destroyed by fire in 1895. The McDonald Brothers were already at work in Charlottesville, designing Christ Episcopal Church. For the Rotunda, they completed plans for "a new portico with cast-iron columns and a grand staircase" and also a somewhat controversial "elaborate two-story interior with multiple levels of cast-iron colonnades". The firm was fired from the job, however, after it turned out "they miscalculated the structural stability of the ruined Rotunda." Stanford White, principal of McKim, Meade and White, was brought in to replace them.[3]

Alfred Joseph, who later founded Joseph & Joseph architects in Louisville, worked for the McDonald Brothers before also working under McDonald and Sheblessy and McDonald and Dodd (with William J. Dodd).[4]

Kenneth McDonald died in 1904.[1]

Many of their works survive and are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Work

Works (with variations in attribution to both or either) include:

McDonald and Dodd
  • Franklin Building at 658-660 South Fourth Avenue, Louisville
  • Seelbach Hotel, 500 South Fourth Street, Louisville

Post-partnership

References
  1. E. Polk Johnson (1912). A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians: The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities. Vol. 3. Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 1479–80.
  2. Marty Poynter Hedgepeth (July 23, 1979). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Jefferson County Courthouse Annex". National Park Service. Retrieved March 7, 2017. with two photos from 1980
  3. "Re-imagining Jefferson: McKim, Mead & White at the University: McDonald Brothers". University of Virginia.
  4. M. A. Allgeier (April 12, 1979). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Elks Athletic Club / YWCA". National Park Service. Retrieved February 28, 2017. with photo from 1979
  5. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
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