Los Angeles County
Biographies
WALTER J. MATHEWS
MATHEWS, WALTER J., Architect, Oakland, California, was born at Markesan, Wisconsin, May 2, 1850, the son of Julius C. and Pauline H. (McCraken) Mathews. His paternal ancestors were Huguenots, who fled from France to England and from thence to America, and settled in Lincoln, Connecticut, while his mother’s family were among the early residents of Vermont and New Hampshire. In the old Hollister house of Stamford, Connecticut, his father’s mother, who was a cousin of the Hollisters, descendants of Colonel Hollister, of Colonial fame, was born. His father moved to Oakland on May 14, 1866, and established himself as an architect. In that city, on December 24, 1879, Walter J. Mathews was married to Miss Viola Gates Strawbridge, a lineal descendant of General Gates of the Revolution. The children of this marriage are Mary Pauline and Josephine Hope Mathews.
From 1856 to 1866 Mr. Mathews attended the public school of Markesan, during the winters. In the latter year he went to Oakland and until 1868 took the common school course, together with some high school work, at the Sweet School, which he left to get a practical training for the profession of architect.
In 1868 he began as a carpenter, under the direction of his father, and devoted the next seven years to learning the mechanical part of the business, outside of the office. This he entered in 1874, with a view to mastering the details thereof, but in the following year he moved to Los Angeles and formed a partnership under the firm name of Kysor & Mathews. After two busy years in that city, during which he designed the front elevation of the Catholic Cathedral and other important works, he returned to Oakland and became the junior partner in the well-known firm of J. C. Mathews & Son. He retained this connection until 1883, and then took a year’s course of travel and study in Europe, chiefly in England, France and Germany. Returning to Oakland, he resumed the practice of his profession on his own account, wherein he has won a wide reputation for thoroughness and skill.
During his many years’ experience as an architect, Mr. Mathews has designed and constructed a vast number of buildings of various kinds and uses. Among his notable business blocks in Oakland are the Union Savings Bank, the National Central Bank, the Bacon Block and others, and in San Francisco the Crellin and the Marye buildings. Chief among the private residences he has designed are the Moses Hopkins, Henry T. Scott, Horace Hill, R. C. Chambers, Dan Earl, John A. Hooper and the Russel Wilson, all in San Francisco; and in Oakland, the F. M. Smith, Thomas Crellin, Senator Perkins, Edwin Goodall, Ray Pennoyer and numerous others. Some of his churches are the St. John Episcopal and the Unitarian of Oakland; Unitarian, Alameda, and the First Christian Church, Berkeley. Public buildings: Irving Station, Angel Island, and Hall of Records, Colusa. Hotels: Ramona, at San Luis Obispo, and the Redondo Beach Hotel at the latter place.
During the ‘90’s Mr. Mathews was City Architect of Oakland and in his official capacity designed several buildings for the city.
Although he does not emphatically favor any special style of architecture, he is inclined toward the Gothic, which, he admits, is not adapted to general American needs; the Byzantine, and especially for America, the free Renaissance.
An architect trained with unusual thoroughness, Mr. Mathews has already numerous monuments of his skill standing in almost every corner of California. These are of every variety, tributes to the versatility of his skill. His work has won the respect and even the admiration of the fellow artists of his profession. He recognizes the full meaning of his business; knows of what important it is in the creation of American cities. He has always striven not only to give his clients the greatest possible useful returns for their invested money, but to add those touches of beauty which make the difference between a building which is a success and one that is not. In the many instances in which he was given considerable rein, and told that beauty was one of the main objects, he has had exceptional success. The great variety of buildings which he has designed has required a technical knowledge of the broadest kind, and a study of many different lines of business, but he has given general satisfaction in every task which he has undertaken.
Besides his office of City Architect, his only other civic post is his directorship of the Institute for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind, in Oakland. He is one of the original members, San Francisco Chapter of the American Institute of Architects; his clubs are, Athenian (one of the original organizers); Nile, Claremont Country Club, Home and the B.P.O.E., all of Oakland.
Transcribed 12-8-11
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 890, International
News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston,
Atlanta. 1913.
© 2012 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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