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Drive-by
Architecture
The Flat Iron
Building, Fort Worth Texas and NYC
1907
Architects : Sanguinet and Staats
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Fort
Worth's Flat Iron Building
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, May 2005 |
Carl Staats
had worked with J.
Riley Gordon in the 1890s.1891 to 1898 to be exact. Staats joined
forces with Marshall R. Sanguinet right around the turn of
the century in Fort
Worth and they opened a branch office in Houston in
1903.
The building was commissioned by Dr. Bacon*
Saunders to be a professional building. It was doubtlessly influenced
by the 20 story, 1902 New
York City Flat Iron which Dr. Bacon had seen while visiting there.
What else are you going to do with a triangular piece of land? The
cost of the building was $70,000. Saunders was a Surgeon and a Dean
of the Fort Worth Medical College. He had a laboratory built on the
top floor, with a pharmacy on the ground floor.
Beautifully detailed panther heads are incorporated into the design
above the second floor. The building had been vacant for over 20 years
before its recent restoration. It is listed in the National Register
of Historic Places and is also a Texas Historic Landmark.
NYC
Flat Iron Trivia >
From the Texas Escapes Garden of Useless Knowledge
©
John Troesser |
TE
photo, 1999 |
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Postcard courtesy
rootsweb.com/~txgenweb// postcards/Index.html |
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Fort
Worth's Flat Iron Building detail
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, May 2005 |
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Two
of the Flat Iron's decorative panthers
Photo by John Troesser, May 2004 |
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More
Photos by Barclay
Gibson
Anyone
wishing to share information, memories or photos of Texas architecture,
please contact
us.
*
We'd like to hear the story of his first name. |
Recommended
Book
Rise of the New York Skyscraper, 1865-1913 |
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