Wyatt Hedrick (Part 1): The Natural

This is the south side of West Lancaster Avenue between Houston and Lamar streets:

But this five-block stretch of West Lancaster Avenue could as easily be named “Wyatt Hedrick Way.” All three of these buildings—the T&P passenger terminal, the central post office, and the T&P freight terminal—were designed by architect Wyatt Cephas Hedrick (1888-1964) and/or architects in his firm (such as Herman Paul Koeppe) during the early 1930s. They are grand in scale—a scale dictated by their functions of mass transit and mass communication. But they also have a form that makes you forget the function—ornate, intricate. If ever an architect could showcase his work in a single photo, here it is.

Keep the following fact in mind the next time you admire these enduring works of art: Hedrick had no formal training in architecture. He was a natural.

hedrick from ames fenderWyatt Cephas Hedrick was born in Virginia in 1888. (Photo from grandson Ames Fender.)

hedrick 1900 census lee countyHedrick was part of the large farming family of George and Nancy Hedrick in Lee County, Virginia.

hedrick lumber 1910 lee county vaBy 1910 Hedrick was a lumberjack in Lee County.

hedrick ymca 1914Three years later Hedrick came to Texas. In 1914 he was rooming at the YMCA in Dallas. In Dallas he got a job with Stone & Webster, the company that owned Northern Texas Traction Company (the interurban). One of his first responsibilities was to design and build trolley lines for Fort Worth and Dallas.

hedrick own company 1915But later in 1914 the young man who five years earlier had been a lumberjack formed his own construction company in Dallas.

hedrick 1917 ad

Hedrick advertised in the Dallas city directory in 1917. That was a big year for him.

hedrick wedding 1917In June he married Pauline Stripling, daughter of department store owner W. C. Stripling.

hedrick 1917 charterAnd his company incorporated. He also opened an office in Fort Worth. Note that Hedrick’s new father-in-law was among the incorporators.

hedrick in dallas 1918In 1918 the Hedricks were living in Dallas. His Fort Worth office was in the Fort Worth National Bank building.

hedrick 1920 in fwBut by 1920 the Hedricks were living in west Fort Worth near the Hillcrest stop on the Arlington Heights (Camp Bowie) Boulevard streetcar line. Note that Hedrick’s vice president and general manager was Thomas S. Byrne. Thomas Sneed Byrne, an MIT graduate, would form his own construction company in 1923. Byrne’s company has built many prominent Metroplex buildings, including the Fort Worth Club and Montgomery Ward buildings, the Amon Carter and Kimbell museums, buildings for Leonard’s and Stripling’s department stores, and WBAP. His company also built Love Field in Dallas.

Among Hedrick’s early construction projects in Fort Worth were Central High (1918, now Green B. Trimble Technical High School) and the Star-Telegram (1920) and Neil P. Anderson (1921) buildings, all designed by Sanguinet and Staats.

hedrick joins s&s 1922In fact, in 1921 Hedrick went to work for Sanguinet and Staats and the next year became their junior partner. Staats retired in 1924, Sanguinet in 1925; Hedrick bought them out. He was thirty-six years old. He expanded his company until it was the third-largest architecture firm in the country. His firm designed and built buildings all over the state.

Herman P. Koeppe, architectHedrick’s chief designer was Herman Paul Koeppe. (Photo from great-granddaughter Terri Johnson.)

Here is a closer look at these three Hedrick buildings on West Lancaster.

First, the T&P passenger terminal:

The central post office:

The T&P freight warehouse:

Wyatt Hedrick (Part 2): Will Rogers and Reddy Kilowatt

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8 Responses to Wyatt Hedrick (Part 1): The Natural

  1. MRead says:

    Hello – Great information on Mr. Hedrick. I am working on one of his courthouses out west. I would like to get permission to reuse his photo. Is that possible? Thank you.

    • hometown says:

      Thank you. He left a great legacy–all over Texas. I got permission from his grandson Ames Fender, a Fort Worth architect at 1251 W Magnolia Ave, Fort Worth, TX 76104
      (817) 207-0699. He’s also on Facebook and LinkedIn.

  2. Glenda Bland Miller says:

    How can I get information on Mr. Hedrick’s ranches
    in Bosque County, TX. My Dad, Dalon Bland was the foreman of the Roswell and Logan Ranches beginning in 1946. I was born on the Roswell in 1947. My family visited several of his ranches in Texas. I hunger for info on the places we lived growing up.
    Thank you for any help you can give me.

    • hometown says:

      I have e-mailed you a file.

    • Deborah Liles says:

      Ms. Miller,
      my name is Debbie Liles. I wrote about Hedrick for my master’s thesis and plan to extend it into a book one day. I knew George Tate, Hedrick’s ranch manager, and will make sure there is a section in the book about the Hedrick ranches. I would love to get in contact with you about your dad and his work for Hedrick. My email is dliles@tarleton.edu Thank you, Mike, for another great article!

  3. Ross Darden says:

    Could you send me all of the information you have compiled in some way or format? I am Wyatt Hedrick’s grandson and grew uncle in Waco. He died when I was only two years old. I would love to pass his history and your articles to my children.
    Best regards,
    Ross Hedrick Darden

    • hometown says:

      Mr. Darden, I have e-mailed you the webpages of the four posts and a college thesis on Hedrick.

    • rhaine says:

      The Baker Hotel is also magnificent, and it will hopefully be restored.I was blown away when I was on a lost road trip. It turned amazing after seeing The skyscraper from afar. To think I was born and raised in Beaumont,Texas and never knew about it. It took me moving to Colorado for 15 years then come back to visit family and see it.

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