Edward M. Lazarus, Architect [1868-1939]
Edgar M. Lazarus [†] was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1868. He arrived in Portland ca. 1892, and began an extensive practice which produced many fine public, commercial and domestic buildings throughout the state. Lazarus was a supporter of the Portland Architectural Club and eventually became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He was a member of the firm of Lazarus, Whitehouse and Fouilhoux. He was most active professionally until the First World War. Edgar Lazarus died in 1939.
Like many of his contemporaries, Lazarus could provide designs in a variety of stylistic categories. These ranged from the Arts and Crafts elements of his domestic work between 1892 and 1904, to the Jugendstil-influenced Vista House (1916-1918) at Crown Point on the Columbia River. Classically-derived examples other than the American Renaissance-styled Clatsop County Courthouse include the Ahavai Shalom Synagogue (1904) and Agricultural Building (1905) at the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, both in Portland and both demolished.
Equally significant works include: Apperson Hall, Oregon State University (1898-1899), in Corvallis, and the 1910-1912 Receiving Ward at the State Insane Asylum (Oregon State Hospital) in Salem. Between 1898 and 1904, Lazarus was also supervising architect on two projects designed by John Knox Taylor of the United States Treasury. These were the United States Custom House (1898-1900) and additions to the United States Post Office and Court House (1903-1909), both in Portland.
† Roger T. Tetlow, Historian, Clatsop County Historical Society, Clatsop County Courthouse, Astoria, Oregon, nomination document, 1983, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.