Wyatt C. Hedrick


Wyatt Cephus Hedrick 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 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.
, Jackson, Mississippi
, Memphis, Tennessee
, Fort Worth, Texas

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.
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, 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:
NameCityAddressYearNRHP-listed?StatusFirmNotes
First National Bank BuildingFort Worth711 Houston St.1910yesSanguinet & Staats with Hedrick
Houston Street ViaductDallasHouston St. roughly between Arlington St. and Lancaster Ave.1911yesHedrick & Cochrane
Neil P. Anderson BuildingFort Worth411 W. 7th St.1921yesSanguinet & Staats; W. C. Hedrick Construction
Petroleum BuildingFort Worth210 W. 6th. St.1921yes
West Texas Utilities Company Power PlantAbilene, Texas100 Block of N. Second St.1922yes
Sam Houston HotelHouston1117 Prairie St.1924yesSanguinet, Staats, Hedrick & Gottlie
St. Mary of the Assumption ChurchFort Worth501 W. Magnolia Ave.1924yesSanguinet, Staats & Hedrick
Eudora Welty HouseJackson, Mississippi1119 Pinehurst St.1925yes
Administration BuildingLubbock, TexasTexas Tech University1925Sanguinet, Staats and HedrickWilliam Ward Watkin, associate architect
Sanger Brothers BuildingFort Worth410412 Houston St.1925yes
Medical Arts BuildingFort Worth1926Razed
Medical Arts BuildingHouston1926Sanguinet, Staats, Hedrick and Gottlieb
The Oliver Rea Eakle Building Amarillo600 S. Polk St.1926yesUndergoing restoration as of Oct. 2019Sanguinet, Staats, Hedrick and Gottlieb
Fort Worth Elks Lodge 124Fort Worth512 W. 4th St.1927yes
Snider HallDallas3305 Dyer St.1927yes
Texas Technological College Dairy BarnLubbockTexas Tech University1927yesSanguinet, Staats & Hedrick
Virginia Hall, SMU campusDallas3325 Dyer St.1927yes
Fort Worth and Denver South Plains Railway DepotLubbock, Texas1801 Ave. G1927yes
Islamic Da’wah Center of HoustonHouston, Texas202 Main St.1928yesHedrick & Gottlieb, Inc.Formerly Houston National Bank
Chemistry Building, Texas Tech UniversityLubbockTexas Tech University1928Wyatt C. Hedrick and CompanyWilliam Ward Watkin, associate architect
Electric BuildingFort Worth410 W. 7th St.1929yes
Petroleum Building and Yucca TheatreMidland, Texas1929aka Hogan Building
First Presbyterian Church Corpus Christi, Texas430 S. Carancahua St.1929
Baker HotelMineral Wells, TX200 E. Hubbard St.1929yes
Sterick BuildingMemphis, Tennessee8 N. 3rd St.1930yes
Commerce BuildingFort Worth1930
Texas and Pacific Terminal and WarehouseFort WorthLancaster and Throckmorton Sts.1931yesNRHP-listed as Texas and Pacific Terminal Complex, Art Deco skyscraper
Psychopathic HospitalBolivar, Tennessee1932Polk BuildingWithin NRHP-listed Western State Hospital Historic District
United States Post OfficeFort WorthLancaster and Jennings Ave.1933yes
Will Rogers Memorial CenterFort Worth1936With Elmer G. Withers
Fort Worth City Hall1938yesPublic Safety and Courts BuildingWith Elmer G. Withers
First National BankMidland, Texas1938Hedrick and Company
Amarillo US Post Office and CourthouseAmarillo, Texas205 E. Fifth St.1939yes
Comanche County Courthouse Comanche, Texas1939Wyatt C. HedrickWPA project
B H Carroll Memorial BuildingFort Worth1948
Shamrock HotelHouston1949Razed
Corrigan TowerDallas1952
Remodel of Coleman County CourthouseColeman, Texas1952Wyatt Hedrick
Cotton Belt BuildingTyler, Texas1517 W. Front St.1955yesH. J. McKenzie and Wyatt C. Hedrick
Coke County CourthouseRobert Lee, Texas1956Wyatt C. Hedrick, with Harry Weaver
Annex to Live Oak County CourthouseGeorge West, Texas1956Wyatt Hedrick
Austin County CourthouseBellville, Texas1960Wyatt C. Hedrick
Fidelity Union Life Insurance BuildingDallas1511 Bryan and 1507 Pacific Ave.1965yes
yes
yes
Addition to Brazoria County CourthouseAngleton, Texas1976yesWyatt C. Hedrick