ELIJAH E. MYERS

'Elijah E. Myers' (b. December 22, 1832, Philadelphia - d. March 5, 1909, Detroit) was a leading architect of government buildings in the latter half of the 19th century, and the only architect to design the capitol buildings of 3 U.S. states, the Michigan State Capitol, the Texas State Capitol, and the Colorado State Capitol. He also designed buildings in Mexico and Brazil. Myers' designs favored Victorian Gothic and Neo-Classical styles, but he worked in other styles as well.
Myers may have studied architecture under Samuel Sloan before the Civil War. Myers lived in Springfield, Illinois after the Civil War, but moved to Detroit, Michigan while working on the Michigan State capitol, where he remained. Myers had conflicts with fellow architects, whom he claimed stole his designs and sued, and sometimes his clients. He was fired from the Texas Capitol project in 1886 over complaints that he was not giving enough attention to the project, and his design was subsequently changed. He was also fired from the Colorado State Capitol project and the Howell Library project, apparently in disputes about money.
In 1879, Myers sued Edwin May, the architect of a new Indiana State House, claiming that elements of design were stolen. Myers lost the lawsuit.
In 1891, Myers applied for the position of Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury but another was chosen.
Myers was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit. His grave is currently unmarked but an ''Elijah Myers Memorial Commission'' is raising funds for an appropriate stone. The only known portrait of Myers hangs in the Elijah Myers room of the Michigan State Capitol.
On January 5, 1914, the Supreme Court decided 'Radford v. Myers' in Myers' favor. The cases was a business dispute between Myers and his attorney, George W. Radford, involving litigation about the unbuilt Luzerne County Courthouse.

Contents

Works

References

External links

Works

★ design for a Lincoln Memorial, 1868 (unbuilt)

★ Macoupin County Courthouse, Carlinville, Illinois, 1870

★ Michigan State Capitol, Lansing, Michigan, 1872

★ First Presbyterian Church, Albion, Michigan, circa 1873 (burned 1883, but the shell was incorporated in the replacement)

★ President's House, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1874 (demolished 1940s)

★ Grosvernor House, Jonesville, Michigan, 1874

★ Lansing High School, Lansing, Michigan, 1875 (demolished summer 2006)

★ Plymouth Congregational Church, 1877 (burned, 1971)

★ Eastern Michigan Asylum for the Insane (aka Clinton Valley Center), Pontiac, Michigan, circa 1878 (demolished, 2000)

★ Grant County Courthouse, Marion, Indiana, circa 1880

★ Texas State Capitol, Austin, Texas, 1881

★ Knox County Courthouse, Galesburg, Illinois, circa 1884

★ Idaho territorial capitol, circa 1885

★ Colorado State Capitol, Denver, Colorado, 1885

★ Seneca County Courthouse, Tiffin, Ohio, circa 1886

★ (old) Richmond City Hall, Richmond, Virginia, circa 1887

★ Central United Methodist Church, Lansing, Michigan, 1888

★ Grand Rapids City Hall, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1888 (demolished 1960s)

★ San Joaquin County Courthouse, Stockton, California, circa 1891 (demolished 1961)

★ Stockbridge Town Hall, Stockbridge, Michigan, 1892

★ Columbia Buildings, World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Illinois, circa 1890 (demolished)

★ asylum, Mexico City, Mexico, ante 1893

★ Brazilian Parliament Building, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, ante 1893 (demolished)

★ Luzerne County Courthouse, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1894 (unbuilt)

★ Howell Carnegie District Library, Howell, Michigan, 1902

★ McDonough County Courthouse, Macomb, Illinois

★ Stephenson County Courthouse, Freeport, Illinois

★ Alumni Hall, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois

★ Harper Hospital, Detroit Michigan, (demolished early 1970s)

References

★ ''Asylum: Pontiac’s Grand Monument from the Gilded Age'', Bruce J. Annett, Jr., ISBN 0-9719141-0-9

★ 'A Michigan Architect in Indiana: Elijah E. Myers and the Business of Architecture in the Gilded Age', Ronald D. Rarick, ''The Michigan Historical Review Vol. 26, No. 2, Fall 2000''

★ ''Elijah E. Myers: Politics, patronage, and professionalism'', Paul Goeldner

★ 'The Designing Architect: Elijah E. Myers', Paul Goeldner, ''Southwestern Historical Quarterly 92 (October 1988)''

★ 'Radford v. Myers' 231 U.S. 725 (1914)

External links

★

★ Myers biography, Colorado State website

★ construction of the Colorado Capitol, Colorado State website

★ Old Richmond City Hall

★ photo album of the Eastern Michigan Asylum

★ historical marker for Central United Methodist Church

★ historical marker for Clinton Valley Center

★ historical marker for First Presbyterian Church of Albion

★ historical marker for Grosvernor House

★ historical marker for Plymouth Congregational Church

★ historical marker for Stockbridge Town Hall

★ demolition of Lansing High School

★ 'Radford v. Myers'

★ Howell Library history

★ illustration of Grand Rapids City Hall

★ photos of San Joaquin County courthouses

★ postcards of Harper Hospital