Louis Mendelssohn was born in
Berlin, Germany in 1842, and studied in
New York City, United States before forming the partnership of Dufrene and Mendelssohn in Omaha in 1881. The pair were responsible for designing the 1884
Christian Specht Building in
Downtown Omaha. The following year Mendelssohn left Dufrene to partner with George Fisher, with whom he operated a firm until 1886. Fisher was born in Michigan in 1856, and graduated from the
University of Michigan in 1880 with a degree in
civil engineering. Eventually, Harry Lawrie, born in
Glasgow, Scotland in est 1858, who had nine years of experience in Glasgow and
Edinburgh before immigrating to
Chicago in 1883, moved to Omaha and joined the firm in 1887. During Omaha's building boom in the 1880s and 90s the firm designed several significant buildings. Mendelssohn left in 1893, leaving Fisher and Lawrie to continue until 1913.[1][2]
Fisher died in 1931, and Lawrie died in 1935.
Notable designs
John A. Horbach Building - Built in 1894, it was named an Omaha Landmark in 1979, and was added to the NRHP.
Broatch Building - Built in 1880 and 1887, it was named an Omaha Landmark in 1983, and was added to the NRHP as a contributing building in the
Old Market Historic District (Article says Mendelssohn, Fisher & Lawrie)
Mason School - Built in 1888, it was added to the NRHP in 1986. (Article states Mendelssohn, Fisher & Lawrie; NRIS2010a version states
Hadden, Rocheford & Gould; Et al., however Hadden, Rocheford, & Gould were the general contractors.)
Minne Lusa Pumping Station - Built between 1888 and 1889, this classically styled building was built at the
Florence Water Works. It was a massive building of Warrensburg sandstone with a central tower rising four stories over the arched entrance. The building housed the high service pump and huge boilers that filtered water flowed to the city water mains. It was demolished in the 1960s. (Mendelssohn, Fisher and Lawrie)[4]
Knutsford Hotel, built in 1891 in Salt Lake City, Utah, this 132-foot-by-132-foot upscale hotel with 250 rooms was built completely of granite at a cost of $750,000. It was eventually converted to a department store before being demolished.[6]