Oscar Ruffini (10 April 1858–18 January 1957) was an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

San Angelo, Texas San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin (North America), Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert ...

. He was the first civic architect in the city and was responsible for many buildings across West Texas in the last 20 years of the 19th century.

Early life

Oscar Ruffini was born on 10 April 1858 to Germans Ernest Ruffini and Adelaide Reihme, who migrated to the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

shortly after their marriage in 1848. Oscar and his siblings,

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...

, Alvin, Clara, and Camilla, were raised in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. Documentation on Oscar's life before his arrival in

is spotty, but at 14 he and Frederick were apprenticed to a Cleveland-based architect. Oscar went independent four years later, while Frederick remained under the architect's tutelage.

Architectural career

From 1875 to 1877, Oscar worked for an architect in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

named George W. Rapp. From 1878 to 1880, he may have been residing and studying in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, though it is not known where exactly he studied. Ruffini was back in the United States by 1880, as he was at that time working in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is Indiana's List of cities in Indiana, third-most populous city after India ...

. He then worked in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

from 1882 to 1883 in an unknown capacity. In early 1883, Frederick called Oscar to work for his practice in

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

. Oscar came to San Angelo in 1884, and settled permanently there shortly thereafter.

Architectural style and legacy

Ruffini's style leaned in a Neoclassical direction. Surviving sketchbooks in the possession of the

Fort Concho Fort Concho is a former United States Army installation and National Historic Landmark District located in San Angelo, Texas. It was established in November 1867 at the confluence of the North and South Concho Rivers, on the routes of the Butte ...

Museum contain studies and sketches of Classical statuary and architectural details. Rather than

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

, in vogue in Paris during the 1870s, when Ruffini was alleged to have been studying there, Ruffini was influenced strongly by the

Second Empire style Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly Eclecticism in architecture, eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts originating in the Second French Empire. It was characterized by elements of many differe ...

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

. A number of Ruffini's works featured metal construction, which he most likely learned while working in St. Louis. Metal construction became more and more popular in the United States in the 1850s and mid-1880s. It was used in great effect in the central warehouses in St. Louis during the 1870s. A number of Ruffini's works are listed on the U.S.

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 ...

. * Concho County Courthouse, Public Sq., Paint Rock, TX * Crockett County Courthouse, 907 Ave. D, Ozona, TX * Harris Drug Store, 114 S. Chadbourne St., San Angelo, TX * Mason-Hughes House, 1104 W. Beauregard, San Angelo, TX * Montgomery Ward Building, 10 W. Beauregard, San Angelo, TX * J. J. Rackley Building, 118 S. Chadbourne, San Angelo, TX * San Angelo National Bank, Johnson and Taylor, and Schwartz and Raas Buildings, 20–22, 24, 26 E. Concho Ave., San Angelo, TX *

Sutton County Courthouse The Sutton County Courthouse, on Public Square in Sonora, Texas, was built in 1891. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It was designed in Second Empire architecture, Second Empire style by architect Oscar Ruffini. ...

, Public Sq., Sonora, TX * Tom Green County Jail, US 67, San Angelo, TX

Citations

References

* *

External links

Texas Courthouses on Texas Escapes.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruffini, Oscar Architects from Texas People from San Angelo, Texas 1858 births 1957 deaths 19th-century American architects 20th-century American architects