Willard Carl Kruger (1910–1984) was an American architect born in Sperry, Texas, who grew up in
Raton, New Mexico
Raton ( ) is a city and the county seat of Colfax County in northeastern New Mexico. The city is located just south of Raton Pass. The city is also located about 6.5 miles south of the New Mexico–Colorado border and 85 miles west of Texas.
His ...
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[ (has death date)] He founded W. C. Kruger and Associates, which was an American architectural and engineering firm. The firm designed a number of Los Alamos buildings, as part of the Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
.[
Kruger graduated with an engineering degree from Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1934, then worked in New Mexico's State Planning division. He served as New Mexico's "State Architect" from 1936 to 1937.][He was misidentified in NRIS database as "William C. Kruger" in listings for Clayton Public Schools Historic District, ]Columbian School (Raton, New Mexico)
The Columbian School in Raton, New Mexico, at 700 N. 2nd St., is a Moderne-style school which was built as a Works Progress Administration project in 1939. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of H ...
, and Longfellow School (Raton, New Mexico).
Notable works
A number of works by Kruger or his firm are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as noted.Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Truth or Consequences (often abbreviated as T or C) is a city in New Mexico, and the county seat of Sierra County. In 2020, the population was 6,052. It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names for having chosen to rename itse ...
, NRHP-listed
* Clayton Public Library (1939), Clayton, New Mexico, NRHP-listed
* Columbian School (1939), Raton, New Mexico
Raton ( ) is a city and the county seat of Colfax County in northeastern New Mexico. The city is located just south of Raton Pass. The city is also located about 6.5 miles south of the New Mexico–Colorado border and 85 miles west of Texas.
His ...
, NRHP-listed
* Longfellow School (1939), Raton, New Mexico, NRHP-listed
* Raton Junior-Senior High School (1939), Raton, New Mexico, NRHP-listed
* Las Vegas Municipal Building (1940), Las Vegas, New Mexico
Las Vegas is a city in and the county seat of San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. Once two separate municipalities (one a city and the other a town), both were named Las Vegas—West Las Vegas ("Old Town") and East Las Vegas ("New Town ...
, NRHP-listed
* Tierra Amarilla Air Force Station (1950–52), near Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico
Tierra Amarilla is a census-designated place in and the county seat of Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States.
''Tierra Amarilla'' is Spanish for "Yellow Earth". The name refers to clay deposits found in the Chama River Valley and used b ...
, NRHP-listed
*New Mexico Bank & Trust Building
The New Mexico Bank & Trust Building is a 14-story, office skyscraper on Gold Avenue in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is the sixth-tallest building in the city. When completed in 1961, it surpassed the Simms Building to become the tallest ...
(1961), Albuquerque, New Mexico
*New Mexico State Capitol
The New Mexico State Capitol, located in Santa Fe at 490 Old Santa Fe Trail, is the seat of government of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the only round state capitol in the United States and is known informally as "the Roundhouse".
Desig ...
(1966), Santa Fe, New Mexico
*University of New Mexico Humanities Building (1974), Albuquerque, New Mexico
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kruger, Willard C.
People from Raton, New Mexico
Architects from New Mexico
Architects from Texas
Oklahoma State University alumni
1910 births
1984 deaths
20th-century American architects
People from Grayson County, Texas