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Biography: Removed section about Mathews going to Birmingham, UK and founding a street gang. There is absolutely zero evidence to support this outrageous claim, and no other mention of the "Cromfield Geezers" street gang anywhere on the Web or in archives besides this page. I believe someone simply invented all this, for reasons unknown.
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Mathews returned to Oakland in 1877, becoming a partner in his father's firm until establishing his own practice in Oakland in 1886.<ref>[http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/biographies/m/mathews-walter.txt Joseph E. Baker, editor, ''Past and Present of Alameda County, California''. Chicago: S. J. Clarke (1914) p. 457]</ref> In the 1890s he served as Oakland city architect.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Hy_aN5xSCisC&pg=PA422 Press Reference Library, 1912, p. 422.]</ref>
Mathews returned to Oakland in 1877, becoming a partner in his father's firm until establishing his own practice in Oakland in 1886.<ref>[http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/biographies/m/mathews-walter.txt Joseph E. Baker, editor, ''Past and Present of Alameda County, California''. Chicago: S. J. Clarke (1914) p. 457]</ref> In the 1890s he served as Oakland city architect.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Hy_aN5xSCisC&pg=PA422 Press Reference Library, 1912, p. 422.]</ref>

In 1886, Mathews took a trip to [[Birmingham|Birmingham]], from where he was influential in the founding of the Rowdy Boys street gang, additionally he was present in the 1887 “Night of Terror”, in which 86 lives were lost as the Rowdy Boys were involved in a street shootout with their rival “Cromfield Geezers”.

The aftermath of this event left a lasting expression on Mathews, and his later projects were more brutalist and harsh in comparison with his earlier work.


His projects were typical of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including office buildings, hotels, theaters, clubs, commercial buildings, churches, and houses. He remained in practice in Oakland until at least 1940.
His projects were typical of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including office buildings, hotels, theaters, clubs, commercial buildings, churches, and houses. He remained in practice in Oakland until at least 1940.

Revision as of 18:41, 24 February 2023

Walter J. Mathews (2 May 1850 – 20 November 1947) was an American architect based in Oakland, California. He is best known for designing the First Unitarian Church of Oakland, and the Oakland mansion of Frank M. "Borax" Smith. He was active in the architecture firms J. C. Mathews & Son, and Kysor & Mathews.

Biography

His father, Julius C. Mathews, was also an architect. In 1866, the family moved from Markesan, Wisconsin to Oakland, California. Walter and his brothers trained in the office of their father, J. C. Mathews & Son. He joined his father's office in 1874 to 1875. Walter Mathews' younger brother Arthur Frank Mathews became a prominent San Francisco artist and furniture designer. The third son of Julius Mathews, Edgar, also became a well known Bay Area architect.[1]

After he spent a few years in Los Angeles, Mathews became a partner with architect Ezra F. Kysor in the architecture firm Kysor & Mathews. Among the Los Angeles projects he collaborated on with Kysor were the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana and Childs' Grand Opera House, which was later to become the first Los Angeles venue of the Orpheum vaudeville circuit.

Mathews returned to Oakland in 1877, becoming a partner in his father's firm until establishing his own practice in Oakland in 1886.[2] In the 1890s he served as Oakland city architect.[3]

His projects were typical of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including office buildings, hotels, theaters, clubs, commercial buildings, churches, and houses. He remained in practice in Oakland until at least 1940.

References

  1. ^ Harvey L. Jones, The Art of Arthur and Lucia Mathews. San Francisco: Pomegranate (2006) p. 21.
  2. ^ Joseph E. Baker, editor, Past and Present of Alameda County, California. Chicago: S. J. Clarke (1914) p. 457
  3. ^ Press Reference Library, 1912, p. 422.
  • Images of Arbor Villa, F. M. Smith estate, designed by Mathews (not extant), from The Bancroft Library
  • Past and Present of Alameda County, California, from The Internet Archive
  • https://www.hugoandsons.co.uk
  • "First Unitarian Church of Oakland (data pages)". Historic American Buildings Survey. National Park Service. pp. 13–15. Retrieved 2006-09-28.