William Weston

William C. Weston (born 1866 in New Zealand; died 1932 in Detroit, Michigan) was a prominent Birmingham architect.

Weston was born into the family that published the Taranaki Herald in Northern New Zealand. He emigrated to the United States with his immediate family in 1885. He practiced architecture with Daniel Burnham's firm in Chicago, Illinois before moving to Birmingham in 1901, immediately submitting the winning design in response to an invited competition for the Woodward Building, which became the first steel-framed building in the city.

Weston soon busied himself with numerous notable commissions. In 1906 Eugene Knight left the firm of Charles and Harry Wheelock to join him, then left in 1909 to pursue his education in New York. John Davis apprenticed with Weston from 1911 to 1914 before moving to Philadelphia to advance his career.

Knight returned and assisted Weston the design of the City Federal Building before forming a partnership with William Warren in 1914. Davis later joined that partnership, which became Warren, Knight & Davis in 1922.

Weston relocated to Detroit, Michigan in 1915 and partnered with Harold Ellington in 1923. He continued to receive commissions from Birmingham, however, notably for Royal Arms Apartments (now known as Quinlan Castle).

Notable buildings

• Woodward Building (1902)
• Title Building (1903)
• Frank Nelson Building (1903)
• Moore & Handley Hardware Company warehouses (1904)
• Brown Marx Building (1906)
• Hardin House (1907)
• Terrace Court (1907)
• Mortimer Jordan residence on Highland Avenue, 1908
• Wimberly-Thomas Warehouse (1908)
• Arthur Adams residence (1909)
• John Kaul residence, 1909
• Otto Marx residence (1909)
• William Weston residence, 1909
• Age-Herald Building (1910)
• Women's Club House (1911)
• T. Felton Wimberly residence (1912)
• William Weston residence
• City Federal Building (1913)
• Roden Hotel (unfinished, 1913)
• Temple Emanu-El (1914)
• Quinlan Castle (1927)

References

• "British Shipping Industry" (August 6, 1903) Taranaki (New Zealand) Herald. Vol. 50, No. 12,325
• Satterfield, Carolyn Green (1976) Historic Sites of Jefferson County, Alabama. Birmingham: Jefferson County Historical Commission/Gray Printing Company
• Harley Ellis Devereaux Corporation (2008) "1908 – 2008: A centennial of superior quality, unequaled service, and constant innovation". corporate history