- Source: Norman Foote Marsh
Norman Foote Marsh (July 16, 1871 - September 5, 1955) was an American architect in practice in Los Angeles from 1900 until his retirement in 1945. He specialized in the design of schools and churches and worked mostly in California and Arizona. The firm he established in 1901 was active until its dissolution in 1997.
Life and career
Norman Foote Marsh was born July 16, 1871, in Upper Alton, Illinois, to Ebenezer Marsh and Kate Marsh, née Provost. He was educated in the Upper Alton public schools and at Shurtleff College and the University of Illinois, graduating from the latter in 1897 with a BS in architecture. After graduation he joined the American Luxfer Prism Company, representing them in New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia. In 1900 he relocated to Los Angeles, where he formed the partnership of Preston & Marsh, architects, with J. N. Preston. This was dissolved after a year and he formed the new partnership of Marsh & Russell with Clarence H. Russell.
Marsh & Russell served as principal architects for the design and construction of the city of Venice in 1905, working for the developer Abbott Kinney. Venice's design includes canals and a central district along Windward Avenue with the look of an Italian Renaissance street.
Marsh & Russell was dissolved in 1907 and Marsh worked alone until 1915, when he formed Marsh & Howard with Herbert C. Howard, a long-time employee. This was dissolved in 1917 and Marsh was again a sole practitioner until 1927, when he formed Norman F. Marsh & Company with engineer David D. Smith and architect Herbert J. Powell. At this time Marsh settled into an administrative role in the firm, delegating engineering to Smith and architectural design to Powell. In 1928 Smith and Powell became full partners in the reorganized Marsh, Smith & Powell.
In 1912 Marsh established a branch office in San Diego under the management of architect V. O. Wallingford. In 1914 Marsh and Wallingford moved the office to Phoenix, Arizona. Wallingford opened his own office in 1919, though Marsh and Wallingford continued to collaborate on certain projects.
Marsh and his partners designed more than twenty churches in the Los Angeles area (in Pasadena, Glendale, San Jose, Long Beach and elsewhere) and at least seven in San Diego. He designed houses in Hollywood, Ojai and elsewhere for prominent persons. He designed dozens of elementary and secondary schools and several university buildings in Arizona and California.
Personal life
Marsh was married in 1901 to Cora Mae Cairns of Polo, Illinois. They had two children, one son and one daughter. From 1902 he lived in South Pasadena, where he was active in the community, serving on the boards of the YMCA and the public library. In 1955, during a brief illness, he moved into a sanitarium in Pasadena to recuperate. Instead, he died there on September 5, 1955, at the age of 84.
Legacy
Marsh retired in 1945, but his partners kept his name as part of the firm's until 1955, when they reorganized it as Smith, Powell & Morgridge, reflecting the addition of Howard H. Morgridge. Smith died in 1964, and in 1965 the firm was reorganized as Powell, Morgridge, Richards & Coghlan. In 1977 Powell retired and the firm was renamed Morgridge, Bader, Richards & Coghlan. In 1979 the firm was renamed a final time to Howard H. Morgridge FAIA & Associates and moved its offices out of the city proper to Tustin. After retiring from full-time practice Morgridge maintained the firm in a small way from his home in Balboa. It was dissolved in 1997.
A number of his works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Architectural works
= Marsh & Russell, 1901–1907
=1904 – Santa Monica Public Library, 503 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, California
1905 – City plan and buildings, Venice, California
1906 – Hollywood Public Library, Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, California
1908 – South Pasadena Public Library, 1100 Oxley St, South Pasadena, California
= Norman F. Marsh, 1907–1915 and 1917–1927
=1909 – Mesa Union High School, 260 S Center Ave, Mesa, Arizona
1910 – Administration Building, University of Redlands, Redlands, California
1910 – Azusa Public Library, 213 E Foothill Blvd, Azusa, California
1910 – Park Place Methodist Episcopal Church South, 508 Olive St, San Diego
1911 – First Baptist Church, Garey and Holt Aves, Pomona, California
1912 – Phoenix Union High School (former), 512 E Van Buren St, Phoenix, Arizona
1913 – First Baptist Church (former), 906 10th Ave, San Diego
1913 – Women’s Club of South Pasadena, 1424 Fremont Ave, South Pasadena, California
1914 – Bisbee High School (former), 100 Old Douglas Rd, Bisbee, Arizona
1914 – Industrial Arts Building, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
1914 – Monroe School, 215 N 7th St. Phoenix, Arizona
1916 – Jefferson High School, 1319 E 41st St, Los Angeles
1920 – Fourth Avenue Junior High School, 450 S 4th Ave, Yuma, Arizona
1920 – Kenilworth Elementary School, 1210 N 5th Ave, Phoenix, Arizona
1923 – Flagstaff High School, 400 W Elm Ave, Flagstaff, Arizona
1925 – Friendship Baptist Church, 80 W Dayton St, Pasadena, California
1926 – Roosevelt School, 201 6th St, Yuma, Arizona
1926 – Second Baptist Church, 1100 E 24th St, Los Angeles
1927 – First Presbyterian Church, 402 W Monroe St, Phoenix, Arizona
1927 – Parkhurst Building, Santa Monica, California
= Marsh & Howard, 1915–1917
=1918 – First Baptist Church, 6682 Selma Ave, Hollywood, California
= Norman F. Marsh & Company, 1927–1928
=1928 – Memorial Chapel, University of Redlands, Redlands, California
= Marsh, Smith & Powell, 1928–1955
=1928 – Sierra Madre Congregational Church, 170 W Sierra Madre Blvd, Sierra Madre, California
1930 – South Pasadena Public Library, 1100 Oxley St, South Pasadena, California
1935 – Hollywood High School, 1521 Highland Ave, Hollywood, California
1935 – Roosevelt School, 801 Montana Ave, Santa Monica, California
1937 – South Pasadena High School auditorium, 1401 Fremont Ave, South Pasadena, California
1939 – El Monte High School, 3048 Tyler Ave, El Monte, California
1939 – Pier Avenue School (former), 710 Pier Ave, Hermosa Beach, California
1952 – Schauerman Library, El Camino College, Torrance, California
1950 - Willow Glen Middle School (Formally Edwin Markham Junior High School) 2105 Cottle Ave, San Jose, California
1950 - Willow Glen High School, 2001 Cottle Ave, San Jose, California
Notes
References
The Engineering Consultants and Architects Committee, “Roster for the Engineering Consultants and Architects Committee.,” Special Collections & Archives Research Center, accessed October 10, 2024, http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/omeka/items/show/2361.