Theodore Carl Link
Born(1850-03-17)March 17, 1850
Baden-Württemberg, Germany
DiedNovember 12, 1923(1923-11-12) (aged 73)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Resting placeBellefontaine Cemetery
Education
OccupationArchitect
Spouse
Annie Fuller
​
(m. 1875)​
Signature

Theodore C. Link, FAIA, (March 17, 1850 – November 12, 1923) was a German-born American architect and newspaper publisher. He designed buildings for the 1904 World's Fair, Louisiana State University, and the Mississippi State Capitol.

Early life

Theodore Carl Link was born on March 17, 1850, near Heidelberg, Germany. He was trained in engineering at the University of Heidelberg and the École Centrale Paris.[1]

Career

St. Louis Union Station

Link emigrated to the United States, arriving in St. Louis in 1873 to work for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad company. He married Annie Fuller on September 22, 1875.[1] That year, St. Louis Surveyor Julius Pitzman recommended him to the job of superintendent of public parks for St. Louis. In 1889, Link joined the American Institute of Architects and started his own private architectural practice.[2]

After a four-year interim as a German-language newspaper publisher in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Link returned to St. Louis just after the turn of the century as one of the architects for the 1904 World's Fair. In 1901 he won the competition to design the new Mississippi State Capitol building in Jackson, which was completed two years later. He also "designed most of the buildings for LSU when the campus was relocated in the 1920s."[3]

Death and legacy

Link died in Baton Rouge while working on the new Louisiana State University campus,[4] and was interred at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis. In 1995 was awarded a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.[5]

His best known work is in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, specifically the St. Louis Union Station (1894), and the Second Presbyterian Church (1899).[6] The Theodore Link Historic Buildings (c. 1911) in University City are three private residences on Delmar Boulevard that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in St. Louis County, Missouri.[7]

Work

Among the 100+ buildings he designed:

Images

References

  1. ^ a b c The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. XII. James T. White & Company. 1904. p. 104. Retrieved August 14, 2020 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory –Nomination Form, Theodore Link Historic District" (PDF). National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. September 11, 1980.
  3. ^ "Louisiana State University Architectural Drawings by Theodore Link". Louisiana Digital Library, Baton Rouge, LA.
  4. ^ Tofts, Caroline Hewes. "Theodore C. Link, FAIA (1850–1923)". Landmarks Association of St Louis. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
  5. ^ "St. Louis Walk of Fame Inductees". St. Louis Walk of Fame. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  6. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory –Nomination Form, Theodore Link Historic District" (PDF). National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. September 11, 1980.
  7. ^ a b "NPGallery Asset Detail: Link, Theodore, Historic Buildings". National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  8. ^ Larson, Paul Clifford; Brown, Susan Mattseld (1988). The Spirit of H.H. Richardson on the Midland Prairies: Regional Transformations of an Architectural Style. University Art Museum, University of Minnesota. ISBN 9780813800172.
  9. ^ "Second Presbyterian Church St. Louis, Missouri". American Presbyterians. 68 (3): 206. Fall 1990. JSTOR 23332669.
  10. ^ Potter, Janet Greenstein (1996). Great American Railroad Stations. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 295. ISBN 978-0471143895.
  11. ^ Railroad Gazette. Railroad Gazette. January 1, 1902.
  12. ^ Warren, Mame (1998). Come Cheer for Washington and Lee. Washington & Lee University Press (Meridian Printing). p. 12.
  13. ^ "History".

External links

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