Frank Shaver Allen

Frank Shaver Allen (1860–1930), usually known as F. S. Allen was a significant Joliet, Illinois-based American architect noted for his Richardsonian Romanesque school designs.

Frank Shaver Allen
F. S. Allen, 1895
Born1860
Galesburg, Illinois
DiedAugust 26, 1930
California
NationalityUnited States
OccupationArchitect
Joliet Township High School, Joliet, 1901.

Early life and career

Frank Shaver Allen was born in 1860 in Galesburg, Illinois to Sheldon W. and Nancy A. (Shaver) Allen.[1] He seems to have received some training in Chicago.[2] By 1880 he was practicing architecture in Streator, Illinois. In 1886 Allen formed a partnership with John H. Coxhead, the firm being Allen & Coxhead.[3] The partnership was dissolved the following year when Coxhead relocated to St. Paul, Minnesota.[4] Following the dissolution of this partnership Allen moved to Joliet, where he did much of his best-known work.

In 1893 an exhibit of his work in school architecture at the World's Columbian Exposition received an award from the exposition commission, which led to significant expansion of his practice.[5]

After being commissioned for work in California, he moved to Los Angeles in 1904 with his family, settling in Pasadena.[6] He originally maintained his practice from Pasadena, but moved it to Los Angeles in 1907.

Allen was arrested in 1910, authorities alleging kidnapping,[7] but charges were dropped in 1911 due to lack of evidence.[8] In 1915 he retired from practice.[2] He died in California, August 26, 1930.[1]

Allen was also an Egyptologist.

Legacy

Allen was responsible for a number of buildings that have been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places.

Architectural works
YearBuildingAddressCityStateNotesImageReference
1885Christ Episcopal Church75 W Van Buren StJolietIllinoisListed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, but destroyed by fire in 2006.[2]
1890Kenosha High School (former)913 57th StKenoshaWisconsinDemolished.[9]
1892Sioux City Central High School (former)610 13th StSioux CityIowaListed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.[10]
1895East St. Louis High School (former)501 N 10th StEast St. LouisIllinoisDemolished.[11]
1895Washington School818 W Lorain StAppletonWisconsinListed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.[12]
1898Trenton High SchoolChestnut and Hamilton AvesTrentonNew JerseyDemolished.[5]
1901Joliet Township High School201 E Jefferson StJolietIllinoisListed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.[13]
1906San Diego High School1405 Park BlvdSan DiegoCaliforniaDemolished in 1975.[14]
1907San Jose High SchoolE San Fernando and S 7th StSan JoseCaliforniaDemolished.[15][16]

References
  1. "Frank Shaver Allen", https://www.findagrave.com, Find A Grave, January 28 2013.
  2. Christ Episcopal Church NRHP Registration Form (1982)
  3. "New Architectural Firms," Inland Architect and Builder 7, no. 1 (February 1886): 8.
  4. Jeffrey A. Hess and Paul Clifford Larson, St. Paul's Architecture: A History (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006): 72-74.
  5. "Architect Allen's Advance," School Board Journal 16, no. 3 (March 1898): 11.
  6. "Hotel Arrivals," Los Angeles Herald, February 25 1904, 2.
  7. "Architect Under Arrest," Los Angeles Times, September 1 1910, 14.
  8. "Wants Probation," Los Angeles Times, February 22 1911, 18.
  9. Frank H. Lyman, The City of Kenosha and Kenosha County, Wisconsin: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1916)
  10. Sioux City Central High School NRHP Registration Form (1974)
  11. "New High School Building," American School Board Journal 11, no. 6 (December 1895): n.p.
  12. Washington School NRHP Registration Form (1984)
  13. Joliet Township High School NRHP Registration Form (1982)
  14. American Architect and Building News 89, no. 1587 (May 26 1906): xv.
  15. Architect and Engineer of California 8, no. 3 (April 1907): 89.
  16. F. S. Allen, "The San Jose High School," Architect and Engineer of California 16, no. 2 (March 1909): 35-44.
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