Wheelock & Wheelock

Wheelock & Wheelock was a prominent architectural firm founded in 1881 by Charles Wheelock, who was joined by his son, Harry in the late 1880s with offices in the Jackson Block at the corner of 19th Street and 3rd Avenue North.

The firm trained many young architects in Birmingham such as Brooks Burnham, S. Scott Joy, Eugene Knight, James A. Lewis, Hugh Martin, and Jack B. Smith.

Joy, who trained as an engineer and architect at the University of Illinois, was a partner in the firm, known then as Wheelock, Joy & Wheelock from before 1905 to 1912. The firm's offices were then in the Steiner Building, designed by them, at 2101 1st Avenue North.

Eva S. Frank served the firm as secretary and office manager for most of its existence. It was she that compiled a list of the firm's completed buildings for Hill Ferguson of the Birmingham Historical Society for preservation in the cornerstone vault of Birmingham City Hall in 1950.

Notable buildings

The Church of the Advent, 1893

Municipal Auditorium, 1922

• Roden Block, 1880s
• Birmingham City Hall (rejected proposal), c. 1886
• Watts Building, 1888
• Anheuser-Busch distribution center (now Alabama Media Group), associated firm, 1888
• Jefferson County Courthouse, 1889, with Henry Wolters
• Steiner Building, 1890
• Church of the Advent, southeast corner of 20th Street North and 6th Avenue North, 1893
• Morlein Brewing Company, 1893
• Base for the Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument, 1894
• "Alabama Building" at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, 1895
• Chalifoux Building, 1896
• Nabers, Morrow & Sinnige building, 109 20th Street North, 1898
• Southern Club, 1901
• Lakeview School, 2800 Clairmont Avenue, 1901, addition completed in 1909
• Birmingham Trust building, 20th Street North, 1902
• Birmingham Auditorium, 1903
• Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company worker housing and company buildings at Muscoda, Wenonah and Potter, 1903
• Paul Hayne School annex, 1903
• Hillman Hospital, 1903
• Hillman Nurses' Home
• First National Bank Building, 1903, with Willliam Weston
• Bell Building, 1814 2nd Avenue North, 1907
• YMCA Building, 526 20th Street North, 1911
• Burnett Building, 1816–1818 2nd Avenue North, 1912
• Graves Building, 1816-1820 3rd Avenue North, 1912
• Dian Apartments, 1300 block of 20th Street South, 1913
• Levert Apartments, 1300 block of 20th Street South, 1913, associate
• Molton Hotel, 500 block of 20th Street North, 1915
• Molton-Henley Retail Block, 1915
• Woodlawn High School, 1920
• Municipal Auditorium, 1922
• Crittenden Building, 1924
• Downtown Masonic Temple, 1924, associate
• Phoenix Building, 17th Street and 2nd Avenue North, 1926
• Alabama Home Building, 2000 block of 1st Avenue North
• Caheen Building, 1924 2nd Avenue North
• Chesterfield Apartments, southwest corner of 20th & Park
• Collings Grocery, southwest corner of 1st & 24th
• Frank S. White Stores, southeast corner of 1st & 23rd
• White-Collins-Scott building, southeast corner of 2nd & 22nd
• Fraternal Hall, 2200 block of 3rd Avenue North
• Grubb-Roberts Building, 1900 block of 4th Avenue North
• Harrison Estate Stores, south side, 2000 block of 1st Avenue North
• Herman Saks & Sons store, 1800 block of 2nd Avenue North
• Ingalls Iron Works offices
• St Paul's Catholic School
• St Paul's Rectory
• Leo Steiner store, NE corner of 20th & 4th
• Wadsworth Estate building, 403 20th Street North
• Birmingham City Jail, 1937

Residences

• Morris Adler residence, Highland Avenue, 1887
• S. M. Adler residence, c. 1900
• Westover House (Walker Percy residence at 2217 Arlington Avenue), c. 1901
• Truman Aldrich residence, c. 1904
• Isaac Beatty residence, c. 1904
• George Kelley residence, c. 1904
• J. T. Doster residence, c. 1904
• J. M. Gunnels residence, c. 1904
• Matsuyama (Louis Clark estate), Chalkville, 1911
• Benjamin Leader residence, 1915

References

• Wilson, H. T. (c. 1880) Historical Sketch of Las Vegas, New Mexico. Chicago, Illinois: Hotel World Publishing
• "Chas. Wheelock & Son" (1888) in North Alabama (Illustrated) Birmingham: Southern Commercial Publishing Co., p. 99
• "Jesse M. Wheelock" biography in An Illustrated History of New Mexico. (1895) Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company, pp. 448-49
• Wheelock, Charles, S. Scott Joy, and Harry B. Wheelock (1905) Wheelock, Joy, & Wheelock, Architectural Works St Louis, Missouri: Murbell & Co.
• Owen, Thomas McAdory and Marie Bankhead Owen (1921) History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. 4 volumes. Chicago, Illinois: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
• "Charles R. & Harry Wheelock, Architects" typescript (August 3, 1950), in "Architects & Architecture", Vol. 2 of material compiled by Hill Ferguson for the cornerstone vault in Birmingham City Hall
• Browne, Catherine Greene (1992) The History of Forest Park. Birmingham: Cather Publishing Company

• Fazio, Michael W. (2010) Landscape of Transformations: Architecture and Birmingham, Alabama. Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press ISBN 9781572336872