Sanguinet and Staats (firm)

Name

Sanguinet and Staats

Location

Fort Worth, TX

Firm History Sources

Historical note:
Contributed by the Alexander Architectural Archive, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas:
Sanguinet and Staats, one of the most successful and influential architectural firms in Texas from the turn of the century through the 1930s, was founded in 1903 by Marshall R. Sanguinet and Carl G. Staats. Sanguinet, who was twelve years older than Staats, moved to Fort Worth in 1883 and practiced architecture there with a variety of partners until the turn of the century. Staats, a native New Yorker, emigrated to Texas in 1891 and worked for noted San Antonio architect James Riely Gordon before being hired by Sanguinet as a draftsman in 1898.
In 1903, Charles D. Hill became the general superintendent for the Sanguinet and Staats firm. He served in this position in Fort Worth until 1905. In 1905, the firm Sanguinet, Staats and Hill, Architects, was established in Dallas. Hill withdrew from the firm in 1907 and with D.F. Coburn and H.D. Smith; he organized the architectural firm of C.D. Hill and Company.
Sanguinet and Staats, headquartered in Fort Worth, rapidly developed into one of the state's largest architectural practices, producing buildings of all types from factories and large hotels to churches and schools. It is best known, however, for its contributions to the design of steel-framed skyscrapers. The firm's work encompassed almost every tall building constructed in Fort Worth before 1930 and-for a time-the tallest structures in Beaumont, Houston, Midland, and San Antonio. The 20-story Amicable Insurance Co. Building in Waco, completed in 1911, was for a brief time, the tallest building in the Southwest. Other prominent examples include: First National Bank Building, Fort Worth (1907); Scarbrough Building, Austin (1910); C.F. Carter Building, Houston (1919); South Texas Building, San Antonio (1919); Neil P. Anderson Building, Fort Worth (1920); and the Jackson Building, Jackson, Miss. (1923). Designed in a variety of styles and forms, their numerous works transformed the scale and style of the state's rapidly growing cities during the teens and twenties.
Despite Sanguinet and Staats' emphasis on large commercial buildings, the firm also designed a number of large residences for some of the state's cattle, cotton, timber, and oil magnates, prominent examples of which may still be seen on Pennsylvania Ave. in Fort Worth and Courtland Place in Houston.
Sanguinet and Staats were also instrumental in transforming the practice of architectural offices to have a statewide general architecture practice with branch offices in Dallas, Wichita Falls, San Antonio, Waco, and Houston.
In 1922, Sanguinet and Staats were joined by Wyatt C. Hedrick who bought a partial interest in the firm. The practice was known as Sanguinet, Staats, Hedrick and Gottlieb, under the direction of R.D. Gottlieb, a limited partner. That arrangement lasted until 1926 when Sanguinet and Staats officially retired and sold their share of the firm to Hedrick. Thereafter, Hedrick continued the practice under his own name in Fort Worth, and in limited partnerships in Houston and later Dallas.

Related Records

M. R. Sanguinet
Carl G. Staats
Wyatt C. Hedrick

Archival Holdings

Alexander Architectural Archive, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas
Sanguinet, Staats, and Hedrick Drawings, photographs, and archival records, Texas, 1910-1969, 1991
Job lists, firm brochures, specifications, a feasibility study, photographs, a book and drawings document the activities of Sanguinet, Staats and Hedrick in its various permutations from 1910 to 1969. The 15,000 drawings make up the vast bulk of the records; the archival materials measure.54 linear feet (or one box).
The Job Lists series includes eight folders; these inventories are arranged numerically by job number or alphabetically by city. One set of Job Lists is entitled "Inventory of drawings in the possession of A.B. Cadenhead as of 1989." Cadenhead sold some of the firm's drawings to the owners of the buildings. This annotated list explains gaps in this set of drawings.
Firm brochures reflect later work of the firm when it was called Wyatt C. Hedrick Inc. The records include one set of specifications for the Thrasher residence in Waco. Hedrick's firm produced a feasibility study for the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital in Fort Worth which is included here. The most recent addition to the records is the book, A History of the Santa Fe Hospital, published by the hospital in 1991 for its 100th anniversary.
The Photograph series consists of 194 black and white prints of Hedrick buildings. The prints represent a wide range of building types, styles and geographic areas.
Included among the 15,000 drawings are the following buildings: Amicable Insurance Building (Waco), First National Bank Building (Fort Worth), Neil P. Anderson Building (Fort Worth), Lone Star Gas Co. Building (Fort Worth), Texas & Pacific Terminal & Warehouse (Fort Worth), Tarrant Civil Courts Building (Fort Worth).
For more information https://www.lib.utexas.edu/about/locations/alexander-architectural-archives

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