Alfred C. Finn Papers
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of office and project records for Finn's architectural firm, including specifications and correspondence. This collection also includes thousands of photographs and negatives, many for projects during and after construction. A significant portion of the colleciton is also composed of architectural drawings by Finn for prominent works in Houston including the Gulf Building, St. Paul's Methodist Church and the San Jacinto Monument. Several works by other firms, including various iterations of Sanguinet & Staats, are also included in this colleciton.
Dates
- 1913-1964
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish or reproduce materials from the Alfred C. Finn Papers must be obtained from the Houston Metropolitan Research Center or the appropriate copyright holder.
Biographical Note
Alfred C. Finn was born in Bellville, Texas, in 1883. In 1895, Finn left home to work on the Brazos River Bridge at Hempstead. From there he went to Houston in 1900 where he worked for the Southern Pacific Railway shops. He studied drafting and became a draftsman for an abstract company. In 1904, he moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area where he joined the architectural firm of Sanguinett and Staats as a draftsman and later as an apprentice to Charles G. Staats. The firm transferred him to its Houston office in 1912 as an assistant to the manager.
In May 1913, Finn established his own office. His first job was designing the ten-story Foster Building. In subsequent years, he designed many of the city's landmark buildings and claimed among his clients Tom Ball and Jesse H. Jones, the latter being an associate of many years.
Extent
36 Linear Feet (31 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into three series based on format.
1. Manuscripts
2. Scrapbooks
3. Architectural Drawings
The architectural drawings are inventoried in the HMRC Architectural Drawings Database (https://hmrc.houstonlibrary.org/architecture/). The collections photographs can be searched using the HMRC's Photographic Archives Database (https://hmrc.houstonlibrary.org/photos/) contains an inventory of photographs in this collection.
Acquisition Information
Initial material donated by Michael M. & Frank H. Spata in 1975. Additions donated by Alfred C. Finn, Jr (1978, 1980), Aaron Jelin with First Southern Properties (1979), Mildred Hawks (1980), and Jane Davis with the University of Houston (1997).
- Architects Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Construction projects Subject Source: Lsch
- Dwellings Subject Source: Lsch
- San Jacinto State Park (Tex.) Subject Source: Local sources
- Title
- Alfred C. Finn Papers
- Status
- Additions To Incorporate
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Houston History Research Center Repository
