Florida
Henry John Klutho (1873-1964) Jacksonville, Florida (A.I.A.)
Henry John Klutho (1873-1964) was a prominent architect in Florida during the early 20th Century. He is perhaps most associated with the city of Jacksonville, playing a pivotal role in the rebuilding of the city following a disastrous fire in 1901. After initially studying in St. Louis, Klutho headed off to New York City in 1894 to work for the architectural firm of Francis Kimball and Wheeler Smith. He later studied in Europe for a year before returning to New York to establish his own practice in 1899. Upon hearing of the fire that swept through the city of Jacksonville in 1901, Klutho sensed an opportunity and relocated his office to this city. Initially working in partnership with the Atlanta architect J.W. Golucke, Klutho quickly established himself within the city. His first commission in Jacksonville was the Dyal-Upchurch Building, which was completed in 1902. It was his design of the new city hall that made him a leading architect in Jacksonville.
Initially designing buildings in classically inspired styles, by 1907, Klutho began experimenting with the Prairie Style. This change in perspective was brought on by a meeting with Frank Lloyd Wright in New York, which was followed by visits to Wright's offices in Illinois shortly afterwards. The Jacksonville YMCA Building, which was designed in 1907 but finished and opened in 1909, was the first major Klutho work to fully incorporate the Prairie Style in its construction. This would be followed shortly afterwards by the Bisbee Building, the first reinforced concrete high rise office building in the south. It would be his design of the St. James Building, however, that is considered his masterpiece. Klutho also committed himself to high-style domestic examples of the Prairie style. Thanks in large part to Klutho's contributions, there were more Prairie Style buildings in Jacksonville than in any other place in the country outside of the Midwest. Although he was best known for his work in Jacksonville, Klutho also received a number of significant commissions around the state of Florida, including the 1907 Governor's Mansion, the additions to the state capitol, and work on the state hospital in Chattahoochee. Other local commissions outside of Jacksonville included the Walker Library in Tallahassee, the City Hall of Palatka, and the Carnegie Library at Stetson University in DeLand. During his lifetime, he was recognized for his contributions to architecture and was among the most prominent architects in the state. In 1907, he became the first Florida-based architect to gain admission to the American Institute of Architects. The Jacksonville Chapter of the AIA heavily featured Klutho's work in a local exhibition given at the Jacksonville Art Museum titled "57 Years of Significant Architecture" in 1958. The chapter also named their lifetime achievement award after Klutho.