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Meanor & Handloser was an American architectural firm active in Huntington and Charleston, West Virginia. It was established in Huntington in 1915 as Meanor & Sweeney before being reorganized in 1919 as Meanor & Handloser.

PartnersEdward J. Handloser AIA; Wilbur A. Meanor AIA; James P. Sweeney AIA

FoundersMeanor and Sweeney

Founded1915

LocationHuntington, West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia

Quick facts Meanor & Handloser, Practice information ...

Meanor & Handloser
Practice information
Partners	Edward J. Handloser AIA; Wilbur A. Meanor AIA; James P. Sweeney AIA
Founders	Meanor and Sweeney
Founded	1915
Location	Huntington, West Virginia Charleston, West Virginia

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History

The partnership was established in Huntington in 1915 by architects Wilbur A. Meanor and James P. Sweeney as Meanor & Sweeney.^[1] In 1918 the partnership was expanded to include Edward J. Handloser, another Ritter employee, to Meanor, Sweeney & Handloser. In 1919 Sweeney moved to Casper, Wyoming, where he joined the office of Garbutt & Weidner.^[2] The firm was then reorganized as Meanor & Handloser. The architectural design of the firm's buildings is generally attributed to Meanor, the more formally trained of the partners, leaving Handloser likely in charge of engineering and construction supervision. By 1925, the firm was regarded as the largest and most distingushed architectural firm in West Virginia.^[3]

In 1929 the firm was commissioned to design the regional headquarters of the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company in Charleston, where Meanor moved to establish a second office of the firm. Charleston was at that time rapidly expanding. Handloser stayed behind in Huntington.^[4] Meanor & Handloser dissolved their partnership in 1944, and Meanor formed the new partnership of Meanor, Greife & Daley with Robert P. Greife and Robert H. Daley. After Meanor's death in 1948 it continued as Greife & Daley.^[5]

In 1962 the partnership was expanded to include Alfred H. Hoblitzell.^[6]

Greife retired in the mid-1970s. Hoblitzell and his partners continued the firm, which was known as Hoblitzell & Associates, Hoblitzell, Daley & McIntyre and as The HDMR Group before its dissolution in 2009.^[7]

A bit of info, BofWV 245-246

Partner biographies

Wilbur A. Meanor

Wilbur Alpheus Meanor AIA (September 25, 1887 – May 6, 1948) was born in Pittsburgh to A. M. Meanor and Anna Meanor, née Wanamaker. He was educated at Washington & Jefferson College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating in 1909. He worked for Alden & Harlow for two years before moving to Huntington in 1911, where he joined the office of Verus T. Ritter, for whom he worked until 1915.^[8]

Meanor dead May 6, 1948.^[9]

Edward J. Handloser

Edward Julius Handloser AIA (January 14, 1885 – May 25, 1967) was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania to Julius Handloser and Marie Handloser, née Holschoe. He was educated in the Williamsport schools before joining the office of Meade B. Ritter, a local architect. After Ritter's death in 1906 he continued with his brother, Verus T. Ritter, who took over the office. When Ritter moved to Huntington in 1911 Handloser moved with him, where they were joined by Meanor. He remained with Ritter until he moved to Philadelphia in 1919, after which he joined Meanor as a partner.^[10]

Note that both founder bios have portraits on facing pages.

Robert P. Greife

Robert Preston Greife AIA (August 15, 1885 – July 17, 1981) was born in Higginsville, Missouri. He was educated at the Ohio Mechanics Institute, now part of the University of Cincinnati, and joined Meanor & Handloser in 1922 as an engineer. He left in 1925 to open his own office but returned to the firm in 1929.^[11]

Greife was a member of the AIA and local fraternal organizations. He was a member of the Charleston Baptist Temple, the building of which had been designed by Ernest Flagg. He was married in 1948.^[11] He died in Boca Raton, Florida at the age of 95.^[12]

Robert H. Daley

Robert House Daley AIA (July 6, 1903 – October 3, 1977) was born in Chatham, New York. He was educated at Cornell University, graduating in 1929 with a BArch. He worked for Schultze & Weaver in New York City and for George Howe and William Lescaze in Philadelphia before joining Meanor & Handloser in 1938.^[13]

Daley was a member of the AIA. He was married in 1931 and had three children.^[13] He died in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at the age of 74.^[14]

Daley's son, Robert House Jr. (December 10, 1933 – January 2, 2024), was also an architect. He was educated at Virginia Tech and worked for I. M. Pei in New York City before joining the firm in Charleston. He was later a partner and managing partner of the successor firms, Hoblitzell, Daley & McIntyre and The HDMR Group.^[15]

Architectural works

Meanor & Sweeney, 1915–1919

1916 – St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, 912 7th St, Moundsville, West Virginia^[16]
1918 – Hotel Farr, 401 9th St, Huntington, West Virginia^[8]
1918 – Pence Springs Hotel,^[a] 158 Academy Ln, Pence Springs, West Virginia^[17]

Meanor & Handloser, 1919–1944

1922 – Johnson Memorial United Methodist Church Sunday school addition, 513 10th St, Huntington, West Virginia^[18]
1922 – Masonic Temple addition, 1108 3rd Ave, Huntington^[19]
1925 – Coal Exchange Building, 401 11th St, Huntington, West Virginia^[8]
1925 – Fordson Coal Company Buildings, Pond Creek Rd, Stone, Kentucky^[20]
1925 – Mountaineer Hotel, 31 E 2nd Ave, Williamson, West Virginia^[21]
1925 – National Bank of Huntington Building addition, 945 4th Ave, Huntington, West Virginia^[18]
1925 – West Virginia Building, 910 4th Ave, Huntington, West Virginia^[8]
1926 – Ohev Sholom Temple, 949 10th Ave, Huntington, West Virginia^[22]
1929 – Memorial Arch,^[b] Memorial Park, Huntington, West Virginia^[23]
1931 – Morrow Library, Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia^[24]
1932 – Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company office building, 816 Lee St E, Charleston, West Virginia^[5]
1932 – First Presbyterian Church religious education building, 16 Leon Sullivan Way, Charleston, West Virginia^[25]
1934 – Subsistence Homesteads Division community, Eleanor, West Virginia^[26]
1936 – Payne Building, 819 Lee St, Charleston, West Virginia^[27]
1937 – Sidney L. Christie Federal Building expansion,^[c] 845 5th Ave, Huntington, West Virginia^[28]

Meanor, Greife & Daley, 1946–1948

1949 – Stone & Thomas department store,^[d] 298 Dickinson St, Charleston, West Virginia^[29]

Greife & Daley, 1948–1962

1951 – Health and Physical Education Building, Glenville State University, Glenville, West Virginia^[11]
1951 – Woolworth Building, 205 Capitol St, Charleston, West Virginia^[11]
1952 – Riggleman Hall,^[e] University of Charleston, Charleston, West Virginia^[30]
1954 – Elkins Middle School, 308 Robert E Lee Ave, Elkins, West Virginia^[11]
1954 – Richwood Area Community Hospital,^[f] 75 Ave B, Richwood, West Virginia^[31]
1958 – Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company office building, 1500 MacCorkle Ave SE, Charleston, West Virginia^[5]
1958 – First Presbyterian Church activities building, 1116 Kanawha Blvd E, Charleston, West Virginia^[32]
1961 – Federal Center,^[g] 500 Quarrier St, Charleston, West Virginia^[33]

Greife, Daley & Hoblitzell, 1962–1964

1964 – Lincoln County Courthouse, 8000 Court Ave, Hamlin, West Virginia^[34]
1964 – Sissonville High School, 6100 Sissonville Dr, Charleston, West Virginia^[35]

Greife & Hoblitzell, from 1964

1965 – Federal Building and United States Post Office, 400 Elk St, Gassaway, West Virginia^[36]
1966 – Geary Student Center, University of Charleston, Charleston, West Virginia^[37]
1971 – South Charleston High School, 1 Eagle Way, South Charleston, West Virginia^[38]
1974 – Law Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia^[39]

Notes

[a]
Most recently the Greenbrier Academy, closed in 2023. A contributing resource to the Pence Springs Hotel Historic District, NRHP-listed in 1985.
[b]
Jerry DeYoung, designer.
[c]
Designed by Robert I. Willett and Meanor & Handloser, associated architects. NRHP-listed.
[d]
A contributing resource to the Downtown Charleston Historic District, NRHP-listed in 2006.
[e]
Designed principally by Meanor but not begun until after his death.
[f]
Demolished.
[g]
Designed by Greife & Daley and C. E. Silling & Associates, associated architects.

References

[1]
"Personals" in The American Architect 107, no. 2058 (June 2, 1915): iv.
[2]
Casper Daily Tribune, September 15, 1919, 3.
[3]
Jennings Randolph, "Successful Architect Who Started Work on a Kitchen Table" in The West Virginia Review (October, 1925)
[4]
"$5,000,0000 to $8,000,000 Building Projected" in Manufacturers Record 96, no. 3 (September 26, 1929): 63.
[5]
"Greife, Daley Firm Designed New Building," Sunday Gazette-Mail, November 8, 1959, 2E.
[6]
"Architecture Partner Added," Sunday Gazette-Mail, January 7, 1962, 12D.
[7]
West Virginia corporate filings
[8]
"Wilbur A. Meanor" in West Virginia: In History, Life, Literature and Industry 4 (Chicago and New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1928): 131-132.
[9]
"Deaths" in Technology Review 50, no. 8 (June, 1948): II.
[10]
"Edward J. Handloser" in West Virginia: In History, Life, Literature and Industry 4 (Chicago and New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1928): 147-148.
[11]
"Greife, Robert P(reston)" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1956): 210.
[12]
"Robert P. Greife," Boca Raton News, July 20, 1981, 8A.
[13]
"Daley, Robert H(ouse)" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1956): 122.
[14]
"Robert Daley, Ex-Architect, Dies at 74," The State, October 7, 1977, 10A.
[15]
"Robert House Daley, Jr.," Charleston Gazette-Mail, January 6, 2024.
[16]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 325-326.
[17]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 169.
[18]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 250.
[19]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 252.
[20]
Fordson Coal Company Buildings NRHP Registration Form (2002)
[21]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 230.
[22]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 261-262.
[23]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 263.
[24]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 259.
[25]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 70.
[26]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 268-269.
[27]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 63.
[28]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 249.
[29]
Downtown Charleston Historic District NRHP Registration Form (2006)
[30]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 89.
[31]
"Memorial Phase Of Hospital Fund Drive Launched," Beckley Post-Herald, February 2, 1952, 2.
[32]
"Daley, Robert H(ouse), Sr." in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1962): 150.
[33]
"Speakers Stress Future Role Of Federal Building," Charleston Daily Mail, October 12, 1961, 16.
[34]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 238.
[35]
"Sissonville Dedication Set Tuesday," Charleston Daily Mail, September 24, 1964, 11.
[36]
"Two Postal Units To Be Designed," Charleston Daily Mail, April 24, 1964, 3.
[37]
"Student Center Bids 'Excessive'," Charleston Daily Mail, April 2, 1965, 11.
[38]
"S Charleston High School Bid Opening Set July 2," Charleston Daily Mail, June 25, 1969, 33.
[39]
"New Law Center Roomy, Colorful," Weirton Daily Times, November 22, 1974, 7.

Quick facts Ritter & Shay, Practice information ...

Ritter & Shay
Practice information
Founders	Verus T. Ritter; Howell Lewis Shay FAIA
Founded	1919
Location	Philadelphia

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The Morris Library of the University of Delaware, designed by Howell Lewis Shay & Associates and completed in 1962.

Ritter & Shay was an American architectural firm established in 1919 in Philadelphia upon the merger of the individual practices of architects Verus T. Ritter of Huntington, West Virginia and Howell Lewis Shay of Philadelphia. They dissolved their partnership in 1934, with both returning to independent practice. Shay was the more active of the two, and in 1948 formed the new partnership of Howell Lewis Shay & Associates with his sons. Shay retired in 1970 and the successor firm, Shay, Schwartz & Associates, was dissolved a year later.

History

Partner biographies

Verus T. Ritter

Verus Taggart Ritter (June 27, 1883 – October 6, 1942) was born in Muncy, Pennsylvania to William L. Ritter and Amelia Ritter, née Spangler. He was educated in the public schools of Muncy and Bloomsburg and worked in the office of his brother, Meade B. Ritter, Williamsburg architect, and for architects in Philadelphia. When his brother died in 1906 Ritter took over the office, continuing it under the name of the M. B. Ritter Company.^[3]

In 1909 Ritter was hired by his cousin, Charles Lloyd Ritter, a lumberman based in Huntington, to design a large house,^[4] and in 1911 relocated to Huntington, where he opened an office under his own name. He found quick success in Huntington, and designed its major civic buildings, including the Huntington City Hall (1915) and Huntington High School (1916).^[3]

After the dissolution of Ritter & Shay, Ritter returned to independent practice. In the latter years of his life he was much interested in the planning of a proposed tunnel crossing of the Delaware River. This project was slowed by the Great Depression and World War II and was ultimately made a moot point after the Walt Whitman Bridge was completed in 1957.

Ritter was married twice. He was married first in 1912 to Edith Keller of Bloomsburg.^[3] They had two children. She died in 1936, and Ritter was married second to Ruth Barnard in 1941. He died in Merion at the age of 59.

Howell Lewis Shay

Howell Lewis Shay FAIA (December 24, 1884 – August 18, 1975) was born in Washington, D.C. to Aurelius King Shay and Julia Stanford Shay, née Lewis. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1913 with an MS in architecture.^[5] He worked between terms for McKim, Mead & White in New York City and for John T. Windrim in Philadelphia, and after graduation joined the office of Horace Trumbauer. While working for Trumbauer Shay was responsible for devising the parti and plan of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The final design was prepared in collaboration with Julian Abele, chief designer for the Trumbauer firm. Shay left to open his own office in 1917, the same year the design for the museum was formally approved, though construction did not begin until after World War I. Wartime restrictions meant that Shay built little before partnering with Ritter.

Shay was married in 1909 to Eunice Mabel Quinby. They had three children, two sons, who joined their father in practice, and one daughter.^[5]

Architectural works

Notes

References

[1]
Philadelphia Inquirer, January 26, 1970, 22.
[2]
"Public sales," Philadelphia Daily News, July 23, 1971, 38.
[3]
Thomas Condit Miller and Hu Maxwell, "Ritter" in West Virginia and its People 3 (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913): 1140.
[4]
Hawthorne Historic District NRHP Registration Form (2007)
[5]
"Shay, Howell Lewis" in
[6]
George E. Thomas, Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 498.
[7]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 265.
[8]
American Architect 98, no. 1806 (August 3, 1910): 14.
[9]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 250.
[10]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 264.
[11]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 248.
[12]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 261.
[13]
S. Allen Chambers Jr., Buildings of West Virginia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 229.
[14]
George E. Thomas, Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 350.
[15]
George E. Thomas, Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 277-278.
[16]
George E. Thomas, Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 277-278.
[17]
George E. Thomas, Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 95.
[18]
Jefferson Elementary School NRHP Registration Form (2003)
[19]
George E. Thomas, Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 499.
[20]
George E. Thomas, Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 227.
[21]
George E. Thomas, Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 231.
[22]
George E. Thomas, Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 291-292.
[23]
George E. Thomas, Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 95-96.
[24]
David Rittenhouse Junior High School NRHP Registration Form (1996)
[25]
Drake Hotel NRHP Inventory-Nomination Form (1978)
[26]
George E. Thomas, Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 80-81.
[27]
"Shay, Howell Lewis" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1962): 636.
[28]
George E. Thomas, Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 63-64.
[29]
Philadelphia Inquirer, October 8, 1940, 30.
[30]
"Shay, Howell Lewis" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1956): 501.
[31]
"Shay, William Dixon" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1956): 501.
[32]
"Shay, William Dixon" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1962): 636.
[33]
John Andrew Munroe, The University of Delaware: A History (Newark: University of Delaware, 1986): 389.
[34]
"Shay, Howell Lewis" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1970): 829.
[35]
"New women's dormitory," Lebanon Daily News, July 8, 1972, 6.

User:JPRiley/Huntington

History

Partner biographies

Wilbur A. Meanor

Edward J. Handloser

Robert P. Greife

Robert H. Daley

Architectural works

Meanor & Sweeney, 1915–1919

Meanor & Handloser, 1919–1944

Meanor, Greife & Daley, 1946–1948

Greife & Daley, 1948–1962

Greife, Daley & Hoblitzell, 1962–1964

Greife & Hoblitzell, from 1964

Notes

References

History

Partner biographies

Verus T. Ritter

Howell Lewis Shay

Architectural works

Verus T. Ritter, 1906–1919 and 1935–1942

Ritter & Shay, 1919–1935

Howell Lewis Shay, 1935–1948

Howell Lewis Shay & Associates, 1948–1970

Shay, Schwartz & Associates, 1970–1971

Notes

References

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