H. A. Overbeck


Harry A. Overbeck was an American architect. He was active in Omaha, Nebraska and then for most of his career in Dallas, Texas. He designed several prominent buildings including a Mississippi Landmark and properties on the National Register of Historic Places.

Early life and education

Harry A. Overbeck was born on July 19, 1861, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He father was a contractor, whom he worked under for few early years. His brother J. Edward Overbeck was also an architect.
Overbeck continued his studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Ohio Architectural and Mechanical Institute. He married May B. Pettigrew from Kansas City, Missouri.

Career

In his early career he worked briefly in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, before established an architecture firm around 1885 in Omaha, Nebraska. His work for the state fair in Omaha led to a commission for the Texas State Fair Association and brought him to Dallas in 1895. He had an office in the Slaughter Building in Dallas.
In 1914, Overbeck was chosen as the president of the Texas State Association of Architects. His 1917 plans for designing a "humane" county jail in Dallas, included a pipe organ for music; but the state commissioners bailed on raising the funds, and his fundraising efforts stopped due to the activities around World War I. He was involved in overseeing the removal of the clock tower from the Dallas County Courthouse in 1919. In 1927, he became a member of the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows.
He died on January 20, 1942, and is buried in Restland Memorial Park in Dallas. The Southern Methodist University libraries houses The George W. Cook Dallas/Texas Image Collection, which contains a 1900s photograph of Overbeck's office and its staff.

List of works