William L. Steele

William LaBarthe Steele (May 2, 1875 – March 4, 1949) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois. He is considered a principal member of the Prairie School Architectural Movement during the early 20th century.[1]

William L. Steele, Purcell & Elmslie, Associated Architects, Woodbury County Courthouse (1916)

Career

After graduating from the University of Illinois, Steele worked under renowned architect Louis Sullivan in Chicago, Illinois, from 1897 to 1900. He later moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he worked at several firms.

In 1904, he settled in Sioux City, Iowa, where he stayed for 25 years until moving to Omaha, Nebraska, in 1929.[2][3] Around this time, he and Thomas Rogers Kimball founded an architectural firm that eventually became Steele, Sandham, and Steele.[4] He designed over 250 commercial buildings, churches, synagogues, homes, schools, and government buildings in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Minnesota.

The Woodbury County Courthouse in Sioux City is considered to be a premier example of Prairie School aesthetics, which he developed along with Minneapolis-based architects George Grant Elmslie and William Gray Purcell.[5] All three men had previously worked for Sullivan in various roles. The Courthouse, along with Walthill Hospital in Nebraska (1912), are both designated National Historic Landmarks. Over 20 of his surviving works are on the National Register of Historic Places (NrHP).

Steele was one of the founding members of The Nebraska State Board of Examiners for Professional Engineers and Architects (now known as the Nebraska Board of Engineers and Architects). He served on the Board from 1937 to 1942.[1]

Selected works

Other

Architect Knute E. Westerlind, a protégé of Steele's, designed the PWA Moderne Sioux City Municipal Auditorium in 1938.

See also

References
  1. "William LaBarthe Steele (1875-1949), Architect". e-nebraskahistory.org. Nebraska State Historical Society. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  2. "Famous Tour: William L. Steele". Sioux City Journal. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
  3. "William L. Steele". SAH ARCHIPEDIA. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
  4. " Steele, Sandham And Steele
  5. "Woodbury County Courthouse Approaches its Centennial". National Park Service. Retrieved 2021-08-13.
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