Edwin Hawley Hewitt (March 26, 1874 – August 11, 1939) was an American architect from Minnesota. In 1906, he designed the Edwin H. Hewitt House in the Stevens Square neighborhood of Minneapolis, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Life and career Hewitt was born in Red Wing, Minnesota. After a partial course at Hobart College he entered the University of Minnesota in the sophomore class in 1893, graduating with the degree of A.B. in 1896. He then went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied during the winter of 1896–1897. The next three years were spent in the offices of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, Wheelwright & Haven, and others. He was married in 1900 and went at once to Paris, where he entered the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in May, 1901 where he became a member of the Atelier Pascal. In October, 1904, he returned to the United States, but he had completed his work at the Ecole. Arriving in Minneapolis, he was almost immediately offered a commission and at once started in on private practice, not having an opportunity to return to Paris for over eight years. As time went on he realized the importance in architectural work of the allied science of engineering in all its branches, and in September, 1910, he formed a partnership with Edwin H. Brown under the name of Hewitt & Brown, architects and engineers. Hewitt was instrumental in the work which culminated in the completion of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. He was president of the Minnesota State Art Society. He became a member of the American Institute of Architects in 1913, and was president of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The practice of Hewitt and Brown continued until Brown's death in 1930. Hewitt resumed private practice, but as business declined during the Great Depression, he closed his office and became the chief architectural supervisor for the Federal Housing Administration for the Minneapolis area. He died on August 11, 1939.
Legacy Though their work was concentrated around Minneapolis, Hewitt & Brown are known to have designed buildings in northern Minnesota and in Wisconsin.
Alone or in association with Brown, Hewitt was responsible for the design of a number of buildings which have been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places.
Architectural works House for Josephine Brooks, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1905)Larry Millett, AIA Guide to the Minneapolis Lake District (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2009) House for Eugene J. Carpenter, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1906, NRHP 1977)Eugene J. Carpenter House NRHP Registration Form (1977) House for Edwin H. Hewitt, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1906, NRHP 1978)Edwin H. Hewitt House NRHP Registration Form (1978) Episcopal Cathedral of St. Mark, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1908–11)Larry Millett, AIA Guide to the Twin Cities (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2007) McKnight Building, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1911 and 1913)"Illustrations," Western Architect 43, no. 5 (May 1912) Blake School, Hopkins, Minnesota (1912)"Brick News of the Twin Cities and the Northwest," Clay-worker 58, no. 1 (July 1912): 78. House for Charles S. Pillsbury, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1912)David Gebhard and Tom Martinson A Guide to the Architecture of Minnesota (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1977) House for John F. Killorin, Duluth, Minnesota (1914)James Allen Scott, Duluth's Legacy: Architecture (Duluth: City of Duluth, 1974) Soo Line Building, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1914–15, NRHP 2008)Soo Line Building NRHP Registration Form (2008) Alumni Gymnasium, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts (1915–16, demolished 2016)Herbert Foster Taylor, Seventy Years of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Worcester: Davis Press, 1937) House for Roy Wilcox, Eau Claire, Wisconsin (1915, NRHP 1983)"Eau Claire, Wis.," American Contractor 36, no. 28 (July 10, 1915): 65. Pavilion, Gateway Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1915, demolished)Albert D. Wittman, Architecture of Minneapolis Parks (Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2010) Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1916)Alan K. Lathrop, Churches of Minnesota: An Illustrated Guide (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003) House for Lloyd T. Brown, Milton, Massachusetts (1916)"Milton, Mass.," American Contractor 37, no. 1 (January 1, 1916): 49. Main Building, Dunwoody College of Technology, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1916–17 and 1923) Metropolitan Bank Building, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1916–17)"Permit Issued for Metropolitan Bank," Commercial West 29, no. x21 (May 20, 1916): 25. Julia Morrison Memorial Building, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1916) St. John's Episcopal Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1916-16)"Opening of St. John's Church, Linden Hills, Minneapolis," Living Church 57, no. 22 (September 29, 1917): 714. Northrop Collegiate School (former), Minneapolis, Minnesota (1917) Woodhill Country Club, Wayzata, Minnesota (1916–17)"Minneapolis, Minn.," American Contractor 37, no. 46 (November 11, 1916): 77. House for George H. Christian, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1919) Architects and Engineers Building, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1920, NRHP 1984)Architects and Engineers Building NRHP Registration Form (1984) University Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1920–27)"Plates," American Architect 126, no. 2449 (July 2, 1924) Widsten School, Wayzata, Minnesota (1921, demolished 1992)Edwin H. Brown, "An Effective School Design at Wayzata, Minnesota," Nation's Health 5, no. 5 (May 1923): 311-313. Virginia Presbyterian Church, Virginia, Minnesota (1922–23)"Virginia, Minn.," American Contractor 43, no. 20 (May 20, 1922): 71. Lafayette Club, Minnetonka Beach, Minnesota (1923–24)"Buildings," Engineering News-Record 90, no. 22 (May 21, 1923): 329. Northwestern National Life Insurance Company Home Office, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1923–24, NRHP 2012)Northwestern National Life Insurance Company Home Office NRHP Registration Form (2012) Citizens Aid Building, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1926)"This & That, Here & There," Domestic Engineering 116, no. 12 (September 18, 1926): 104. Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1928) Fort Snelling Memorial Chapel, Fort Snelling, Minnesota (1929) CenturyLink Building, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1932)
Gallery of architectural works
Notes
References This article incorporates text from Urban America's "Architectural forum: the magazine of building" (1915), now in the public domain.