Mark Lemmon (1889–1975) was an American architect from

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

Biography

Early life

Mark Lemmon was born in

Gainesville, Texas Gainesville is a city in and the county seat of Cooke County, Texas, United States. Its population was 16,002 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Texoma region and is an important Agri-business center. History Founded in 1850, the city of Gain ...

in 1889.Texas State Historical Association: Mark Lemmon
/ref> His father was William Leonard and his mother, Cosette (Libscomb) Lemmon. He moved to

Sherman, Texas Sherman is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas. The city's population in 2020 was 43,645. It is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison metropolitan statistical area, and it is part of the Texoma region ...

with his family when he was eight years old. He graduated from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

with a Bachelor of Science in Geology in 1912 and received another bachelor's degree in Architecture and Engineering from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most ...

in 1916. He served in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

Career

He worked for the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

-based architectural firm

Warren and Wetmore Warren and Wetmore was an architecture firm in New York City which was a partnership between Whitney Warren (1864–1943) and Charles Delevan Wetmore (June 10, 1866 – May 8, 1941), that had one of the most extensive practices of its time and ...

, where he focused on The Commodore Hotel in New York City and

The Broadmoor The Broadmoor (stylized as THE BRODMOOR) is a hotel and resort in the Broadmoor neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Broadmoor is a member of Historic Hotels of America of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Its visitors h ...

in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He moved to

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

and worked for

Hal Thompson Harold Charles "Hal" Thompson (October 18, 1922 – April 26, 2006) was an American football end and defensive end who played for two seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1948 to 1949 after playin ...

until 1921. He then partnered with Roscoe DeWitt (1894-1975) until 1927. During that period of time, they designed the Sunset High School, the Woodrow Wilson High School, some buildings on the campus of

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , pr ...

, and the

Highland Park United Methodist Church Highland Park United Methodist Church is a United Methodist church in Dallas, Texas. Location It is located on the campus of Southern Methodist University, at 3300 Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, TX 75205. History In February 1916, a Methodist congreg ...

. From 1927 to 1940, he designed the Highland Park Presbyterian Church, public schools in Port Arthur,

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an ...

Longview Longview or Long view may refer to: Places Canada *Longview, Alberta, a village *Longview, British Columbia, a former cannery town *Longview Range, British Columbia; a mountain range United Kingdom England *Longview Psychiatric Unit, a hospital ...

, Terrell,

Grand Prairie Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis counties of Texas, in the United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It had a population of 175,396 according to the 2010 census, making it th ...

and Sherman. Additionally, he also designed the Cotton Bowl, and the Third Church of Christ, Scientist. Later, he also designed the Tower Petroleum Building, the Boude Storey Junior High School, and the Alex Spence Junior High School. He also designed the Cokesbury Bookstore, which hosted book signings by

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

, John Steinbeck,

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most ...

and

Howard Cosell Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

; however, it was demolished in 1993. In the mid-1930s, he went on to design the Museum of Natural History and the

Hall of State The Hall of State (originally the State of Texas Building) is a building in Dallas's Fair Park that commemorates the history of the U.S. state of Texas and is considered one of the best examples of Art Deco architecture in the state. It was ...

. He was a consulting architect for the

Dallas Independent School District The Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD or DISD) is a school district based in Dallas, Texas ( USA). It operates schools in much of Dallas County and is the second-largest school district in Texas and the seventeenth-largest in the ...

from 1945 to 1968. Moreover, from 1948 to 1959, he also designed eighteen Georgian-style buildings on the campus of

, including the Fondren Science Building and the Perkins Chapel. He also designed buildings for the University of Texas at Austin,

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Gal ...

and

. He designed the now demolished original building of Hyer Elementary School for Highland Park Independent School District. Lemmon also designed the campus and the many additions of

Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England * Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement ** County B ...

in the

Preston Hollow Preston Hollow is a neighborhood in north Dallas, Texas, USA. It is bordered on the south by the city of University Park, Texas. History Beginning in the 1850s, the first settlers began receiving land grants for Preston Hollow’s land. Amon ...

neighborhood of Dallas, TX. The building is wonderfully preserved and is a prime example of Lemmon’s Georgian style buildings. Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church

He was a member of the

Texas Philosophical Society Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, the

Dallas Historical Society The Dallas Historical Society is an organization dedicated to the history of Dallas, Texas ( USA). It was organized on March 31, 1922, by citizens who wished to encourage historical inquiry. In 1938, the Society assumed the management of the Hal ...

, the

City Club Dallas A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

, the

Idlewild Club Idlewild, also spelled ''Idlewyld'', ''Idyllwild'', ''Idyllwyld'', ''Idylwild'', or ''Idylwyld'' might refer to: Film * ''Idlewild'' (film), an American musical film released in 2006 Literature * ''Idlewild'' (novel), a 2003 novel by Nick Sagan * ...

and the American Legion.

Personal life

He married Maybelle Reynolds on November 14, 1922. They had two sons. He died on December 22, 1975 in Dallas, Texas, where he was buried in the

Hillcrest Mausoleum Hillcrest may refer to: Places Australia * Hillcrest, Queensland, a suburb of Logan City *Hillcrest, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide *Hillcrest, Tasmania, suburb of Burnie Canada * Hillcrest, Alberta, also known as Hillcrest Mines *Hillcrest ...

Bibliography

Secondary sources

* Richard R. Brettell, Willis Winters, ''Crafting Traditions: The Architecture of Mark Lemmon'', Dallas, Texas: Southern Methodist University Press, 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemmon, Mark 1889 births 1975 deaths People from Gainesville, Texas People from Dallas University of Texas at Austin alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni 20th-century American architects People from Sherman, Texas