John Davis

This article is about the senior architect. For other uses, see John Davis (disambiguation)

John Eayres Davis (born August 4, 1891 in Oak Grove, Mobile County; died January 2, 1961 in Birmingham) was a standout football player for the Alabama Polytechnic Institute in Auburn and a partner in the notable architecture firm of Warren, Knight & Davis.

Davis played tackle and fullback for the 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1911 Auburn Tigers football teams. He was twice named an "All-Southern" player by John Heisman and was a captain for the 1910 team that went 6-1 and won a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association co-championship.

From 1911 to 1914 Davis worked as an apprentice to William Weston in Birmingham. After that he spent a year in the office of Horace Trumbauer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and then five years with Louis Kamper in Detroit, Michigan. He married the former Estelle Schnessler and had one son, John Davis Jr, in 1916 and a daughter, Virginia, in 1921.

Davis moved back to Alabama to become a partner in the firm of Warren & Knight on January 1, 1922. His charisma and business skills qualified him as the office's managerial and public relations specialist. His connections in Auburn helped the firm win more than 30 commissions on campus before 1950, including its football stadium in 1939. He served one term as president of the Alabama Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Davis constructed a home at 2935 Carlisle Road. He died in 1961.

References

• 1956 American Architects Directory (December 1955) American Institute of Architects/ R. R. Bowker