George E. King (1852-1912)

Name

King, George E.

Personal Information

Birth/Death:    b. 15 Nov. 1852 - d. 25 Nov. 1912
Occupation:    American architect
Location:    El Paso, TX

AIA Affiliation

Fellow of the Western Association of Architects 1885-1889
Member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 1889-1899
Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) 1889. (On the merger of the Western Association of Architects with the American Institute of Architects in 1889, all AIA members were made Fellows because WAA members were known as Fellows.)

Biographical Sources

Correspondence in the past from a relative in England doing genealogical research to the AIA Archives gives the following details. George Edward King was born in London on 15 November 1852, and emigrated to the United States in the late 1860s or early 1870s. He was in the US by 1871. His older brother, John King, was a builder/joiner in England. He visited his brother in the United States frequently along with their sister's husband James Martin, and all three worked together on various projects during the 1870s and 1880s. A letter from John King in 1884 is on letterhead of "D. F. Gardner & Co., Leadville, Colorado." George's wife's name was Harriet and his eldest son, George Edward King, Jr., was born in 1875. George Edward King, Jr., also became an architect, and attended architectural college in Philadelphia from 1894-1896. In the 1890s, George E. King, Sr., had offices in El Paso, Texas, and in Mexico City, with these letterheads: "Office of Geo. E King/Architect and Superintendent/Wells Fargo Bank Block/El Paso, Texas 5" and "Office of Geo. E King/Apartado 537/Mexico City. Mexico 4". According to his letters back to England, he built an opera house in Zacatecan and projects in other cities throughout Mexico including two government contracts in Guadalajara. George E. King died on 25 November 1912.
      George E. King's city of residence in the 1885 and 1886 membership lists of the Western Association is given as Leadville, Colorado. There are no extant lists for 1887-1889. His city in the 1890-1897 AIA membership lists is given as El Paso, Texas.
      According to the book Leadville Architecture: A Legacy of Silver 1860-1899, by Lawrence Von Bamford, George E. King designed buildings in Leadville between 1878 and 1885, and had previously been in Boulder, Colorado.

Related Records

Archival Holdings

The American Institute of Architects Archives
      No archival records. For members who came in through the Western Association, there is no membership correspondence.

Publications