Joseph F. Leitner

Joseph Florence Leitner (June 13, 1871 – June 2, 1930) was an American architect[1] whose work includes several rail stations. In Columbia, South Carolina he worked for Charles Coker Wilson (beginning in 1901) for five years. Later he partnered with William J. Wilkins (architect), first in Florence, South Carolina (completing work in Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, Florida, and Tennessee) and then in an office in Wilmington, North Carolina, where Leitner practiced for a decade.[2] to form Leitner & Wilkins. His work included commercial, educational, fraternal religious, industrial, residential, and transportation buildings in colonial revival architecture, Flemish architecture (especially gables, Italianate architecture and Romanesque revival architecture styles. He ended his career in Florida.[1]

Tampa Union Station in Tampa, 2007

Leitner was born in Augusta, Georgia. His parents were Major Henry Daniel Leitner and Annie E. Jackson.[1] He attended Emory College School of Technology, which later became Georgia Tech. He began his career in 1893 with Albert Wheeler Todd in Augusta, practicing as part of Todd and Leitner, before establishing his own practice. He married Marie (Birdie) Zachary of Augusta in 1895.[1]

William Hooper School in Wilmington, North Carolina, 2009

Leitner moved to South Carolina and then North Carolina, where he spent at least 10 years in Wilmington, North Carolina starting in 1906. He worked out of the Southern Building.[1]

From 1909 through 1912, Leitner was the official architect for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company doing work in Wilmington, Rocky Mount, and Fayetteville[3] and other locations.[1] He served two terms as president of the North Carolina Architectural Association and was a member of the North Carolina Board of Architecture.[1]

He designed the Ricks Hotel[4] in Rocky Mount and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad YMCA. His biggest project in North Carolina were Wilmington's Union Station[5] (demolished in 1970, although a community college building modelled on the original is planned)[6][7] the Atlantic Coast Line Office Building. A cold storage plant was also planned. Other designs included the Winston-Salem Southbound Freight Depot.[1]

He designed the Thomas M. Emerson House (also known as the Emerson-Kenan House) in the Carolina Heights neighborhood for ACL's president. Other work included:

  • Wiggins Building (1910)
  • Wilmington Savings and Trust Building (1910)
  • Atlantic Trust and Banking Building (1911)
  • Cape Fear Club (1912-1913), as supervising architect, a brick Neoclassical Revival building at 206 Chestnut Street in Wilmington, North Carolina
  • Joseph H. Hinton House, Wilmington[8] (1913), on Market Street, in 1913
  • William Hooper School (1914).
Columbus County Courthouse in Whiteville, North Carolina

Outside of Wilmington his work included:

  • Several schools including three in Fayetteville in 1911 and others in Charlotte
  • Columbus County Courthouse (1914-1915) in Whiteville
  • R. E. L. Brown House in Chadbourn, a Southern Colonial architecture residence
  • Lumberton Hotel (1914)
  • Mitchell Elementary School, Charleston, SC[9]

He opened an office in Atlanta in 1917 with architect C. P. Niederhauser, who had worked in Jacksonville, Florida, and then joined the Atlanta firm of Edwards and Sayward (William Augustus Edwards and William J. Sayward). He may have worked in St. Petersburg, Florida in the firms of Leitner and Henson (1926) and Brown and Leitner (1927). By 1930 he was living in Tampa, Florida, where he designed bridges. He died June 2, 1930. He is buried in Harlem Memorial Cemetery in Harlem, Georgia .[1]

He was also assigned to design the C. & W. C. station in Georgia.[10]

His works listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places include:

Plant City Union Depot in Plant City, Florida, 2011

References
  1. Turberg, Edward F., John E. Wells, and Catherine W. Bishir (2011). "Leitner, Joseph F. (1871-after 1930)". North Carolina Architects and Builders: A Biographical Dictionary. NCSU Libraries.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. "Search". Ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  3. "Leitner, Joseph F. (1871-1930) : NC Architects & Builders : NCSU Libraries". ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  4. "Ricks Hotel, Rocky Mount, N.C." Digital.lib.ecu.edu. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  5. Hutteman, Ann Hewlett (9 January 2019). "Wilmington, North Carolina". Arcadia Publishing. Retrieved 9 January 2019 – via Google Books.
  6. Union Station Community College building plan tribute to original Union Station building
  7. Josh Spiker Cuts would thwart CFCC's Union Station Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine April 2, 2010, Wilmington Business Journal
  8. "Front view, Joseph H. Hinton House, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina (Joseph H. Hinton House (Wilmington, N.C.)) - bh2246pnc003 - NCSU Libraries' Rare and Unique Digital Collections - NCSU Libraries' Rare and Unique Digital Collections". D.lib.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  9. "Mitchell School Very Handsome". Charleston News & Courier. Mar 24, 1909. p. 10. Retrieved Sep 27, 2013.
  11. Florence National Register of Historic Places South Carolina
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