Wyatt Cephus Hedrick (December 17, 1888, in Chatham, Virginia – May 5, 1964, in Houston, Texas) was an American architect, engineer, and developer most active in Texas and the American South. He began his career as an engineer, working in Virginia and Texas. He started his own firm in Fort Worth, and later merged with the architecture firm of Sanguinet & Staats before buying out the interests of the senior partners.

Early life Wyatt Cephus Hedrick was born December 17, 1888, in Chatham, Virginia, to Washington Henry and Emma Cephas (Williams) Hedrick. He matriculated at Roanoke College, gaining his bachelor's degree in 1909. He earned a degree in engineering the next year from Washington and Lee University.

Career In 1910, Hedrick started a career in engineering, working briefly for Lane Brothers in his home state. Later that year he accepted a position at the Dallas office of Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation. He was a construction engineer for about three years.

In 1914, Hedrick started his own engineering firm in Fort Worth under the name of Wyatt C. Hedrick Construction Company.Liles (2008), p. 8.

Hedrick was accepted into the partnership of Sanguinet & Staats in 1921, an architecture firm based in Fort Worth which specialized in skyscrapers.

After a year, Hedrick began his work as an architect in Fort Worth, Texas, and three years later opened his own office. He was responsible for many of the tallest buildings in Fort Worth, and several of his works are included on the National Register of Historic Places. Fort Worth's first Art Moderne skyscraper, the Worth Theatre (1927), was designed by Hedrick while partnered with Sanguinet & Staats.

Hedrick worked mainly in a stripped-down classical style. With his extensive university and government work, at one time his firm was the third-largest in the United States.

Hedrick is also known for his eight Texas courthouses, all of which are still standing. They include: Austin County, Brazoria County, Coke County, Coleman County, Comanche, County, Kent County, Motley County, and Yoakum County.

Personal life In 1918 he married Pauline Stripling. In 1925, he married Mildred Sterling, and in 1931 his father-in-law, Ross S. Sterling, became governor of Texas.

Works A list of works by Hedrick in chronological order, with shared attribution where applicable: Fort WorthCityAddressYearNRHP-listed?StatusFirmNotesFirst National Bank Building Fort Worth711 Houston St.1910yesSanguinet & Staats with HedrickHouston Street Viaduct DallasHouston St. roughly between Arlington St. and Lancaster Ave.1911yesHedrick & CochraneNeil P. Anderson Building Fort Worth411 W. 7th St.1921yesSanguinet & Staats; W. C. Hedrick ConstructionPetroleum Building Fort Worth210 W. 6th. St.1921yesWest Texas Utilities Company Power PlantAbilene, Texas100 Block of N. Second St.1922yesSam Houston Hotel Houston1117 Prairie St.1924yesSanguinet, Staats, Hedrick & GottlieSt. Mary of the Assumption Church Fort Worth501 W. Magnolia Ave. 1924yesSanguinet, Staats & HedrickEudora Welty House Jackson, Mississippi1119 Pinehurst St.1925yesAdministration BuildingHenry (1993), p. 156. Lubbock, TexasTexas Tech University1925Sanguinet, Staats and HedrickWilliam Ward Watkin, associate architectSanger Brothers Building Fort Worth410412 Houston St.1925yesMedical Arts Building Fort Worth1926RazedMedical Arts BuildingHenry (1993), p. 137. Houston1926Sanguinet, Staats, Hedrick and GottliebThe Oliver Rea Eakle Building (Name changed to The Barfield in ~1947)Amarillo600 S. Polk St.1926yesUndergoing restoration as of Oct. 2019Sanguinet, Staats, Hedrick and GottliebFort Worth Elks Lodge 124 Fort Worth512 W. 4th St.1927yesSnider Hall Dallas3305 Dyer St.1927yesTexas Technological College Dairy Barn LubbockTexas Tech University1927yesSanguinet, Staats & HedrickVirginia Hall (Dallas, Texas), SMU campusDallas3325 Dyer St.1927yesFort Worth and Denver South Plains Railway Depot Lubbock, Texas1801 Ave. G 1927yesIslamic Da’wah Center of HoustonHouston, Texas202 Main St.1928yesHedrick & Gottlieb, Inc.Formerly Houston National BankChemistry Building, Texas Tech University LubbockTexas Tech University1928Wyatt C. Hedrick and CompanyWilliam Ward Watkin, associate architectElectric Building Fort Worth410 W. 7th St.1929yesPetroleum Building and Yucca Theatre Midland, Texas1929aka Hogan BuildingFirst Presbyterian Church (Corpus Christi, Texas) Corpus Christi, Texas430 S. Carancahua St.1929Baker Hotel Mineral Wells, TX200 E. Hubbard St.1929yesSterick Building Memphis, Tennessee8 N. 3rd St.1930yesCommerce Building Fort Worth1930Texas and Pacific Terminal and Warehouse Fort WorthLancaster and Throckmorton Sts.1931yesNRHP-listed as Texas and Pacific Terminal Complex, Art Deco skyscraperPsychopathic Hospital Bolivar, Tennessee1932Polk BuildingWithin NRHP-listed Western State Hospital Historic District.United States Post OfficeFort WorthLancaster and Jennings Ave.1933yesWill Rogers Memorial Center Fort Worth1936With Elmer G. WithersFort Worth City Hall 1938yesPublic Safety and Courts BuildingWith Elmer G. WithersFirst National BankHenry (1993), p. 230. Midland, Texas1938Hedrick and CompanyAmarillo US Post Office and Courthouse Amarillo, Texas205 E. Fifth St.1939yesComanche County Courthouse (Comanche, Texas)Kelsey and Dyal (2007), p. 77. Comanche, Texas1939Wyatt C. HedrickWPA projectStar School buildingStar, Texas1940Wyatt C. HedrickWPA projectB H Carroll Memorial Building Fort Worth1948Shamrock Hotel Houston1949RazedCorrigan Tower Dallas1952Remodel of Coleman County CourthouseKelsey and Dyal (2007), p. 72. Coleman, Texas1952Wyatt HedrickCotton Belt Building Tyler, Texas1517 W. Front St.1955yesH. J. McKenzie and Wyatt C. HedrickCoke County CourthouseKelsey and Dyal (2007), p. 71. Robert Lee, Texas1956Wyatt C. Hedrick, with Harry WeaverAnnex to Live Oak County CourthouseKelsey and Dyal (2007), p. 179. George West, Texas1956Wyatt HedrickRosedale Park Elementary School (Maudrie Walton Elementary School)Fort Worth5816 Rickenbacker Pl.1956Wyatt C. HedrickAustin County CourthouseKelsey and Dyal (2007), p. 38. Bellville, Texas1960Wyatt C. HedrickFidelity Union Life Insurance Building Dallas1511 Bryan and 1507 Pacific Ave.1965yes yes yesAddition to Brazoria County CourthouseKelsey and Dyal (2007), p. 50. Angleton, Texas1976yesWyatt C. Hedrick

One or more works in Wharton County Courthouse Historic Commercial District, Roughly bounded by the alley N of Milam St., Rusk St., Elm St. and Richmond St. Wharton, TX, NRHP-listed

References

Bibliography

Master's thesis.

External links

Texas Courthouses on Texas Escapes.com