Architectural firm based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania which was active from 1901 to 1922
MacClure and Spahr as depicted in Palmer's Pictorial Pittsburgh, 1905Acheson House (1903)Diamond Building (1905)University Club (1907)Stonehurst (1915), Grosse Pointe Shores, MichiganLangley High School, architect's rendering (1916)
MacClure & Spahr was an architectural firm based in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania which was active from 1901 to 1922. Several of the firm's buildings have received historic designations. The firm was a partnership between Colbert Anderson MacClure (1879–1912) and Albert Hubbard Spahr (1873–1966),[1] both of whom had studied at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Benno Janssen, another notable Pittsburgh architect, began his career at MacClure & Spahr before starting his own firm.
History
MacClure and Spahr met while working for
Peabody & Stearns in Boston. MacClure was sent to Pittsburgh around 1897 to supervise construction of the
Joseph Horne Company department store and other projects. In 1901, he decided to start his own firm and invited Spahr to join him. Their first commission was the Keystone Bank Building in downtown Pittsburgh, which was completed in 1903 and is now a contributing property in the
Fourth Avenue Historic District. The firm was busy throughout its first decade with various commissions including houses, clubs, and large office buildings.
MacClure died in 1912 but Spahr continued to run the firm under the same name until 1922.[2] During this period, Spahr was the architect for two large housing developments, one for the
Crucible Steel company town of
Midland, Pennsylvania, and one for the U.S. government to provide emergency housing for industrial workers in
Erie, Pennsylvania during
World War I. He also designed three large manor houses in
Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan for the siblings Hetty Ford Speck, Emory L. Ford, and Stella Ford Schlotman, who were grandchildren of
John Baptiste Ford and heirs of the
Pittsburgh Plate Glass fortune.[3][4]
One of the firm's last commissions was the gatehouse complex at
Homewood Cemetery, completed in 1922.[2] Subsequently, Spahr retired from architecture and moved back to Massachusetts, where he died in 1966.[1]
Works
Notable works of the firm include the following (located in Pittsburgh unless otherwise noted):[2][5]
^"Demolished: Jones Law Building"(PDF). PHLF News (167). Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation: 12. September 2004. Retrieved March 13, 2024.