George Keister
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

George W. Keister (January 10, 1859 – December 27, 1945)"Keister, George," ''Leslie's History of the Greater New York'', vol. 3 (New York: Arkell Publishing Company, 1898): 640. was an American architect. His work includes the
Hotel Gerard The Hotel Gerard, currently known as aka Times Square, is a historic hotel located in New York, New York. It had also operated at the Hotel Langwell and Hotel 1-2-3. The building was designed by George Keister and built in 1893. It is a 13-stor ...
(1893), the Astor Theatre (1906), the
Belasco Theatre The Belasco Theatre is a Broadway theater at 111 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Originally known as the Stuyvesant Theatre, it was bu ...
(1907), the Bronx Opera House (1913), the
Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...
in Harlem (1914), the Selwyn Theatre (now Todd Haimes Theatre, 1918), and the
First Baptist Church in the City of New York The First Baptist Church in the City of New York is a Baptist church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. Its current structure was built in 1890–93 at the intersection of Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway and 79th Street (Manhat ...
. He also designed Woodbridge Hall at 431 Riverside Drive (1901), which faced demolition in 1996, and the
Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternities. The fraternity has 244 active undergraduate chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has ...
fraternity at 565 W. 113th St. (1903).


History

George Keister was born in
Bellevue, Iowa Bellevue ( ) is a city in eastern Jackson County, Iowa, Jackson County, Iowa, United States. The city lies along the Mississippi River (at Lock and Dam No. 12) and next to Bellevue State Park (Iowa), Bellevue State Park. In 2020 its population ...
, on January 10, 1859, to George W. and Mary R. Keister, née MacMurphy. He was educated in the schools of his hometown and those of
Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. It is located along rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a popul ...
, where his family later moved. He attended
Cornell College Cornell College is a private liberal arts college in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Originally the Iowa Conference Seminary (Methodist), the school was founded in 1853 by George Bryant Bowman. Four years later, in 1857, the name was changed to Cornell Co ...
before moving to
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
to study architecture at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
. During this time he also studied in the architecture firms of Ware & Van Brunt and George F. Meacham. After leaving school he was a building superintendent in the office of Meacham for two years. In 1885 he went to New York to establish a private practice, and was nominally associated with
Russell Sturgis Russell Sturgis (; October 16, 1836 – February 11, 1909) was an American architect and art critic of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was one of the founders of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1870. Sturgis was born in Baltimore Count ...
until 1890. Keister was a skilled but little known architect who was active in New York City from the mid-1880s into the third decade of the twentieth century. He had a brief partnership with Frank E. Wallis (1887–88) and in the 1890s, served as secretary of the
Architectural League The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture, urbanism, and related disciplines". The league dates from 1881, when Cass Gilbert organized meetings at the Salmagundi Club for ...
. Although barely a score of his buildings have been identified, the collection indicates a gifted and innovative architect with facile design ability in a variety of styles. Prior to
David Belasco David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of ...
's Stuyvesant (now Belasco), he had designed three New York theaters: in 1905, the Colonial (Hampton's; at 1887 Broadway) and Loew's Yorkville Theater (157 East 86th Street), and the Astor Theater in the following year; all three have been demolished. Belasco's Stuyvesant Theater thus takes on the added significance of being the earliest extant theater of an architect who would later make theaters his specialty, executing at least a dozen others in New York by 1923. Among his most notable were the George M. Cohan's Theatre (1911; demolished), the Bronx Opera House (1912–13), the
Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...
in Harlem (1913–14), Broadway's Selwyn Theater (1917–18, 229 West 42nd Street) and the Earl Carroll Theatre at 753-59 Seventh Avenue (1922; 1931 Art Deco remodeling; demolished). Although the circumstances of his commission from Belasco are obscure, Keister was most likely known to the producer as architect of the Gerard Apartment Hotel (1893) which was located immediately west of the site of Belasco's new theater. Rising 13 stories on West 44th Street, this fine neo-medieval/
neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...
composite was one of the tallest buildings in the area. Among Keister's other notable commissions is the eccentrically massed First Baptist Church (1891) on the northwest corner of Broadway and 79th Street. Like Belasco's Stuyvesant, it features stained glass in its ceiling, although here rendered more boldly as a splendid stained glass barrel vault in appropriate ecclesiastical terms. Keister's other works include neo-Grec and neo-Renaissance tenements in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
, an eclectic group of rowhouses known as the Bertine Block (1891) on East 136th Street in the Bronx, the McAlpin-Miller residence at 9 East 90th Street (purchased by a daughter of
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...
and now part of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum), as well as a neo-Gothic office building from 1925, located several doors west of the Belasco Theatre (No. 156).


Works

File:Hotel-gerard.jpg,
Hotel Gerard The Hotel Gerard, currently known as aka Times Square, is a historic hotel located in New York, New York. It had also operated at the Hotel Langwell and Hotel 1-2-3. The building was designed by George Keister and built in 1893. It is a 13-stor ...
File:Belascotheatre.jpg,
Belasco Theatre The Belasco Theatre is a Broadway theater at 111 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Originally known as the Stuyvesant Theatre, it was bu ...
File:Earl Carroll Theatre, New York, N. Y..jpg, Earl Carroll Theatre, Manhattan, 1922 File:Apollo Theater, Harlem (2009).jpg,
Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...
File:Fitzgerald Building with George M. Cohan Theatre (left).jpg, Fitzgerald Building, 1911 File:First Baptist Bwy 79 jeh.JPG,
First Baptist Church in the City of New York The First Baptist Church in the City of New York is a Baptist church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. Its current structure was built in 1890–93 at the intersection of Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway and 79th Street (Manhat ...
File:Bronx Opera House, New York City.jpg, Bronx Opera House, 1913 File:Selwyn Theatre, West 42nd Street, Manhattan.jpg, Selwyn Theatre, 1918 File:29 West 26th Street closeup.jpg, Von Hoffman Building File:George M. Cohan's Theatre, West 43rd Street, Manhattan.jpg, George M. Cohan's Theatre, 1911 File:Hotel Astor and Astor Theatre, Manhattan - crop.jpg, Astor Theatre, 1906
Hotel Gerard The Hotel Gerard, currently known as aka Times Square, is a historic hotel located in New York, New York. It had also operated at the Hotel Langwell and Hotel 1-2-3. The building was designed by George Keister and built in 1893. It is a 13-stor ...
was built in 1893 at 123 West 44th Street in Manhattan. It was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on February 10, 1983. The
Belasco Theatre The Belasco Theatre is a Broadway theater at 111 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Originally known as the Stuyvesant Theatre, it was bu ...
is a
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...
at 111 West 44th Street in Manhattan, next to the Hotel Gerard. The theatre opened as the Stuyvesant Theatre on October 16, 1907, with the
musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
''A Grand Army Man'' with
Antoinette Perry Mary Antoinette "Tony" Perry (June 27, 1888June 28, 1946) was an American actress, producer, director and administrator, known for her work in theatre, she was co-founder and secretary of the American Theatre Wing and is the namesake of the To ...
. Built for
impresario An impresario (from Italian ''impresa'', 'an enterprise or undertaking') is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, Play (theatre), plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film producer, film or ...
David Belasco David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of ...
, the interior featured Tiffany lighting and ceiling panels, rich woodwork and expansive
mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...
s by American artist
Everett Shinn Everett Shinn (November 6, 1876 – May 1, 1953) was an American painter and member of the urban realist Ashcan School. Shinn started as a newspaper illustrator in Philadelphia, demonstrating a rare facility for depicting animated movement, a ...
, and a ten-room duplex penthouse
apartment An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement (Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that ...
that Belasco utilized as combination living quarters/office space. The
First Baptist Church in the City of New York The First Baptist Church in the City of New York is a Baptist church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. Its current structure was built in 1890–93 at the intersection of Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway and 79th Street (Manhat ...
is at Broadway and 79th Street in Manhattan. A balcony was added in 1903. The
Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...
is at 253 West 125th Street in Manhattan. Opened as Hurtig & Seamon's New Theater, the Apollo was a burlesque house for white patrons. The Bronx Opera House, planned by Broadway's beloved
George M. Cohan George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer. Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...
, was instantly a hit in the early 1900s. The most famous performers of the time entertained mass audiences in the bustling neighborhood of the artsy South Bronx. Performances from
Harry Houdini Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini ( ), was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts. Houdini first attracted notice in vaudeville in ...
,
the Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chic ...
,
David Warfield David Warfield (November 28, 1866 – June 27, 1951) was an American theatre, stage actor. Life and career Warfield was born David Wohlfeld in San Francisco, California, to German-Jewish parents, Louise and Sigmund Wohlfeld. His first conne ...
,
George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film, and television. His arched eyeb ...
,
Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Cantor was one of the prominent entertainers of his era. Some of h ...
,
John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen, and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly a ...
, and
Lionel Barrymore Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blyth; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' A Free Soul'' (1931) ...
attracted New York's top theatre aficionados. The Opera House manager, George M. Cohan, was so successful in his career that the famous Hammerstein actually donated and erected a statue of him in Times Square, New York, where it stands today. The original facade has been preserved and remains standing in the same place it was 100 years ago. The Selwyn Theatre at 227 West 42nd Street was a
Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...
designed and decorated in an
Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...
style. Built in 1918 by the Selwyn brothers,
Edgar Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...
and Archie, it was used for musicals and other dramatic performances. One of three theatres they built and controlled on 42nd Street, along with the
Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...
and the
Times Square Theatre The Times Square Theater is a former Broadway and movie theater at 215–217 West 42nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, near Times Square. Built in 1920, it was designed by Eugene De Rosa and developed by ...
, it originally had 1,180 seats. At the time of its opening, the design had several innovations, the most novel being separate smoking rooms for men and women. Additionally, each dressing room was equipped with a shower and telephone. Eventually it was converted to cinema before closing. It was used briefly as a visitor's center but stood vacant for years until a 1997 renovation and restoration. The Von Hoffman Building is at 29 West 26th Street in Manhattan. It was built in 1893–94 and was designed by George Keister in the Renaissance Revival style. It was originally a hotel and boarding house and was later converted into commercial lofts. It is located within the Madison Square North Historic District.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keister, George Architects from New York (state) Theatre architects 1859 births 1945 deaths *