Mendelssohn, Fisher and Lawrie
Mendelssohn, Fisher and Lawrie was a significant architecture firm in early Omaha, Nebraska.
History
Louis Mendelssohn was born in Berlin, Germany in 1842, and studied in New York City, New York before forming the partnership of Dufrene and Mendelssohn in Omaha in 1881. The pair were responsible for designing the 1884 Christian Specht Building in Downtown Omaha. The following year Mendelssohn left Dufrene to partner with George Fisher, with whom he operated a firm until 1886. Fisher was born in Michigan in 1856, and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1880 with a degree in civil engineering. Eventually Harry Lawrie, born in Glasgow, Scotland in est 1858, had nine years of experience in Glasgow and Edinburgh before immigrating to Chicago in 1883. He moved to Omaha and joined the firm in 1887. During Omaha's building boom in the 1880s and 90s the firm designed several significant buildings. Mendelssohn left in 1893, leaving Fisher and Lawrie to continue until 1913.[1][2]
Fisher died in 1931, and Lawrie died in 1935.
Notable designs
- G.C. Moses Block - Built in 1887, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2000.
- Mason School - Built in 1888, it was added to the NRHP in 1986.
- Bemis Omaha Bag Company Building - Built in 1887, it was added to the NRHP in 1985.
- Christian Specht Building - Built in 1884, it was added to the NRHP in 1977.
- Hicks Terrace - Built in 1890, it was named an Omaha Landmark in 1981.
- Bemis Bag Company Building - Built in 1887, it was named an Omaha Landmark in 1978.
- Broatch Building - Built in 1880 and 1887, it was named an Omaha Landmark in 1983, and was added to the NRHP.
- John A. Horbach Building - Built in 1894, it was named an Omaha Landmark in 1979, and was added to the NRHP.
- Sacred Heart Catholic Church - Built in 1900, it was added to the NRHP in 1983.
- Old Library - Located on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, it was built in 1895 and added to the NRHP in 1975.
- Minne Lusa Pumping Station - Built in 1886, this classically styled building was demolished in the 1960s.
See also
References