Malcomson and Higginbotham was an architectural firm started in the nineteenth century and based in Detroit, Michigan. A successor firm, Malcomson-Greimel and Associates, still exists in Rochester, Michigan as of 2010.
History
Architects William G. Malcomson and William E. Higginbotham formed a partnership in 1890. The firm was retained by the Detroit Board of Education in 1895, and between 1895 and 1923 had designed over 75% of the school buildings in Detroit. The firm remained in business under various names until the present.
William G. Malcomson
William George Malcomson was born in 1856 in Hamilton, Ontario. He began his architectural career early, and in 1875 supervised the construction of the Henry Langley-designed Erie Street United Church in Ridgetown, Ontario. In 1882, Malcomson married Jennie E. McKinlay of Ridgetown, Ontario; the couple had five children. William G. Malcomson died in 1937.
William E. Higginbotham
William E. Higginbotham was born in 1858 in Detroit. He was educated in the Detroit public schools, and at the age of 19 joined the architectural form of J. V. Smith. He married Nettie M. Morphy in 1892; the couple had two children: a daughter, Doris Higginbotham and a son, Bruce Field Higginbotham. William E. Higginbotham died in 1922.
Other principals and architects
Malcomson and Higginbotham began as a partnership between William G. Malcomson and William E. Higginbotham.
Around 1907, the firm changed its name to "Malcomson, Higginbotham and Clement" with the addition of Hugh B. Clement as a partner. Clement soon left, and the name reverted to "Malcomson and Higginbotam".
Wirt C. Rowland joined the firm, though not as a partner, in 1912 and stayed until 1915 when he rejoined Albert Kahn.
C. William Palmer became a partner in 1920 and the firm became known as "Malcomson, Higginbotham and Palmer", reverting again to "Malcomson and Higginbotham" upon Palmer's departure in 1924, despite Higginbotham's death in 1922.
In 1925, Alexander L. Trout became a partner, and the firm once more changed its name to "Malcomson and Higginbotham and Trout" until 1935, when Trout left.
The firm finally dropped Higginbotham's name after Malcomson's death in 1937 with the addition of Ralph R. Calder, and Maurice E. Hammond, becoming "Malcomson, Calder, and Hammond"; they remained under that name until 1945, when Ralph R. Calder resigned to establish his eponymous firm, which remains in business.
In 1945, Homer A. Fowler became a partner, and the firm name was changed to "Malcomson, Fowler, and Hammond". until 1958 at least.
In the 1960s, the firm merged with that of Karl H. Greimel to become "Greimel, Malcomson and Hammond". Karl Greimel was the dean of Lawrence Technological University's School of Architecture from 1974 - 1991.
The firm was later known as "Greimel, Malcomson, and James".
The firm changed its name to "Malcomson-Greimel and Associates", and still exists as of 2018.
List of structures designed by Malcomson and Higginbotham
