Oscar Wenderoth (1871–1938) was an American architect who served as director of the

Office of the Supervising Architect The Office of the Supervising Architect was an agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings from 1852 to 1939. About The office handled some of the most important architectural commissions of ...

from 1912 to 1915. He is identified as the architect of many government buildings built during that period, including some listed on 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 ...

. Wenderoth was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1871 and was the son of the noted photographer Frederick August Wenderoth, a pioneer "...in addressing the public's desire for colored photographs." Early in his architectural career Oscar worked for the New York City firm of Carrere and Hastings. He first joined the Office of Supervising Architect as a senior architectural draftsman in 1897, working in the office for three separate time periods before being appointed as its director. He was appointed to the directorship by President William Howard Taft in 1912. He resigned in 1915 without providing a public explanation of his resignation.''New York Times''
April 11, 1915 Soon after his resignation he joined Weary & Alford in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

as Supervising Architect, where he worked for five years. In the ensuing years his sight failed, leading to blindness and retirement in 1920. He died in 1938 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

."Oscar Wenderoth, Architect, Was 67, Designer of Federal Buildings Had Been Blind Since 1920" in ''New York Times'', April 16, 1938, 13.

Selected government buildings

File:Former post office in Bowling Green.jpg,

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

(later Senior Citizen's Center),

Bowling Green, Ohio Bowling Green is a city in Wood County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 30,808 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located southwest of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo, it is part of the Toledo metropolitan area and ...

, 1913 File:Blue Island Post Office.jpg, United States Post Office,

Blue Island, Illinois Blue Island is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, south of Chicago Loop, Chicago's Loop. Blue Island is adjacent to the city of Chicago and shares its northern boundary with that city's Morgan Park, Chicago, Morgan Park neighborho ...

, 1914 File:Old Post Office Oneonta NY Apr 10.jpg, United States Post Office,

Oneonta, New York Oneonta ( ) is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in southern Otsego County, New York, Otsego County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is one of the northernmost cities of Appalachia. Oneonta is home to the State Un ...

, 1915 File:Post Office and Court House Brattleboro.jpg, United States Post Office and Courthouse,

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located about north of the Massachusetts state line at the confluence of Vermont's West River (Vermont), West River and the Connec ...

, 1915 File:Miles City MT - post office.jpg, United States Post Office,

Miles City, Montana Miles City is a city in and the county seat of Custer County, Montana, United States. The population was 8,354 at the 2020 census. History After the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, the U.S. Army created forts in eastern Montana, inclu ...

, 1916 File:John F. Kilkenny United States Post Office and Courthouse Pendleton in 1917.jpg, United States Post Office and Courthouse,

Pendleton, Oregon Pendleton is a city in and the county seat of Umatilla County, Oregon, Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The population was 17,107 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which includes approximately 1,600 people who are ...

, 1916 File:James A. Redden Federal Courthouse - Medford Oregon.jpg, James A. Redden Federal Courthouse,

Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824, making it the List of cities in Oregon, eighth-most populo ...

, 1916 File:Port Jervis post office.jpg, United States Post Office,

Port Jervis, New York Port Jervis, named after John Bloomfield Jervis, a Roman civil engineer who oversaw the construction of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, is a city located at the confluence of the Neversink and Delaware rivers in western Orange County, New York, ...

, c.1920 File:U.S. Post Office (Allston Way, Berkeley, CA).JPG, U.S. Post Office,

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, 1914 File:United States Post Office Clarksville Wiki (1 of 1).jpg, United States Post Office,

Clarksville, Texas Clarksville is a city in and the county seat of Red River County, Texas, Red River County, Texas, United States, in the northernmost part of the Piney Woods region of East Texas. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city popula ...

, 1914

References

20th-century American architects 1871 births 1938 deaths Architects from Philadelphia 19th-century American architects United States Department of the Treasury officials Taft administration personnel {{US-architect-19C-stub