Frank Pierce Milburn

Portrait of Milburn from his self-published book

Frank Pierce Milburn (December 12, 1868 - September 21, 1926) was a prolific American architect of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His practice was primarily focused on public buildings, particularly courthouses and legislative buildings, although he also designed railroad stations, commercial buildings, schools and residences. Milburn was a native of Bowling Green, Kentucky who practiced as an architect in Louisville from 1884 to 1889; Kenova, West Virginia 1890–1895; Charlotte, North Carolina; Columbia, South Carolina; and Washington, D.C. after 1904. From 1902 Milburn was architect for the Southern Railway.[1]

Milburn pioneered a new approach to the marketing of architectural services, publishing sponsored books of his work, placing advertisements in trade publications, entering competitions and moving his office to suit available opportunities.[2] This resulted in work in every Southern state.

Columbia County Courthouse (Columbia County, Florida)

Milburn was particularly successful in obtaining commissions for significant public buildings, ranging from county courthouses to state capitols. Milburn did significant work at the South Carolina State House and the old Florida State Capitol, and unsuccessfully competed for work on the Arkansas Capitol.[3]

In 1902, Milburn did design upgrade for the Florida State Capitol[4] and designed Columbia County Courthouse in Lake City, Florida. That same year he also designed the Blanche Hotel across the street from the courthouse.

South Carolina State House

Milburn won a 1900 competition to complete the South Carolina State House over William Augustus Edwards and Charles Coker Wilson, as well as Gadsen E. Shand, an assistant to former State House architect Frank Niernsee.

Milburn's selection was made easier by the fact that the proposed cost for his design was the least expensive of those submitted. Plans and specifications were issued and bids accepted, but a dispute broke out immediately over differences between the competition design and that issued for bidding. Milburn had reduced the number of columns on the north portico by six and had removed a line of columns on the south portico to remain within the appropriated budget. Other changes to the dome and disputes over the quantity and accuracy of details and the quality of the work caused legal and political difficulties, but the project proceeded. Milburn, however, moved to Washington when his work with the Southern Railway offered the opportunity.[2]

Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina

In Washington

Once in Washington, Milburn teamed with Michael Heister (1909 - 1934) to form the firm of Milburn and Heister. Milburn's son, Thomas Y. Milburn, joined the firm in 1914 and took over the firm a year before his father's death in 1926.[5]

Work

• W. Hunt Harris house at 425 Caroline Street in Key West, Florida[6]

Gallery

• 
  State Capitol, Columbia, South Carolina
• 
  Anderson County Courthouse, South Carolina
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  Buchanan County Courthouse, Grundy, Virginia
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  Buncombe County Courthouse, Asheville, North Carolina
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  Dubois County Courthouse, Jasper, Indiana
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  Durham County Courthouse, Durham, North Carolina
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  Fulton County Courthouse, Fulton, Kentucky
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  Gaston County Courthouse, Gastonia, North Carolina
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  Glynn County Courthouse, Brunswick, Georgia
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  Hoke County Courthouse, Raeford, North Carolina
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  Lincoln County Courthouse, Stanford, Kentucky
• 
  Lowndes County Courthouse, Valdosta, Georgia
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  Mecklenburg County Courthouse, Charlotte, North Carolina
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  McDowell County Courthouse and jail, Welch, West Virginia
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  Newberry County Courthouse, Newberry, South Carolina
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  Pitt County Courthouse, Greenville, North Carolina
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  Smyth County Courthouse Marion, Virginia
• 
  Summers County Courthouse, Hinton, West Virginia
• 
  Swain County Courthouse, Bryson City, NC
• 
  Upson County Courthouse, Thomaston, Georgia
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  Wilcox County Courthouse, Abbeville, Georgia
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  Wilkes County Courthouse, Washington, Georgia
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  Wise County Courthouse, Wise, Virginia
• 
  Wythe County Courthouse, Wytheville, Virginia
• 
  Union Station, Raleigh, North Carolina
• 
  Southern Railway Station, Danville, Virginia
• 
  Southern Railway Station, Richmond, Virginia
• 
  Union Station, Savannah, Georgia
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  Southern Railway Terminal, Knoxville, Tennessee
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  Southern Railway Station, Salisbury, North Carolina
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  Southern Railway Station interior, Salisbury, North Carolina
• 
  Union Depot, Hattiesburg, Mississippi
• 
  Southern Railway Station, Lynchburg, Virginia
• 
  Durham Auditorium (Carolina Theater), Durham, North Carolina
• 
  Hotel Blanche, Lake City, Florida
• 
  Lansburgh's Department Store, Washington, District of Columbia
• 
  Powhatan Hotel, Washington, District of Columbia
• 
  Bynum Gymnasium, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• 
  O'Donnel House, Sumter, South Carolina

See also

• List of buildings by Frank Pierce Milburn, includes buildings by Milburn and Heister until Milburn's retirement in 1925

References

1. Vivian, Daniel J. and Claudia R. Brown (2009). "Milburn, Frank Pierce (1868-1926)". North Carolina Architects and Builders: A Biographical Dictionary. NCSU Libraries.
2. Bryan, John Morrill: Creating the South Carolina State House, page 116. University of South Carolina Press, 1999 ISBN 1-57003-291-2.
3. C.E. Turley (April 5, 1979). National Register of Historic Places Nomination: McDowell County Courthouse (PDF). National Park Service.
4. https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/24593 ^[bare URL]
5. "Thomas Yancey Milburn (1890-1977)". Triangle Modernist Houses. 2009-01-29. Archived from the original on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
6. Caemmerer, Alex (1992). Houses of Key West. Pineapple Press. ISBN 9781561640096.

External links

• 1901 self-published promotional book by Milburn with illustrations at the Internet Archive