Hyman Witcover

Hyman Witcover
Witcover in 1904
Born	July 16, 1871 Darlington, South Carolina, U.S.
Died	October 2, 1936(1936-10-02) (aged 65) Darlington, South Carolina, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Architect

Hyman Wallace Witcover (July 16, 1871 – October 2, 1936) was an architect prominent in Savannah, Georgia. He worked as a draftsman for Alfred Eichberg and eventually partnered with him.^[1]

Life and career

Witcover was born in Darlington, South Carolina, in 1871, to Wolf and Dora.^[2]

At age 17, he moved to Savannah, Georgia, where he began work as a draftsman for noted architect Alfred Eichberg.^[2]

Witcover served on the board of the Congregation Mickve Israel and on the first board of Savannah's public library.^[2]

He served in the Georgia Hussars as a private, and was also in the Freemasonry fraternity.^[2]

Witcover married Agnes Dillon.^[3]

Death

Witcover died on October 2, 1936, in his hometown of Darlington, where he had returned to live with two of his sons.^[2] He was 65. He is interred in Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Brentwood, Maryland, alongside his wife, who predeceased him by four years.^[3]

Notable works

Savannah City Hall, Witcover's most noted design

• One or more works in Savannah's Ardsley Park-Chatham Crescent Historic District^[4]
• Old Effingham County Courthouse, Springfield, Georgia^[1]
• Germania Bank (1904, later known as the Blun Building, demolished in 1975)^[5]
• Savannah City Hall, Savannah, Georgia (1905)^[5]
• Hicks Hotel (circa 1914)^[5]
• Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, Savannah, Georgia (1912)
• Liberty Bank and Trust (1915)^[5]
• Bnai Brith Jacob synagogue^[5]
• Old Judicial Building, Montgomery, Alabama, as a Scottish Rite Temple (1926)^[6]

References

1. Caldwell, W.W. (2001). The Courthouse and the Depot: The Architecture of Hope in an Age of Despair : a Narrative Guide to Railroad Expansion and Its Impact on Public Architecture in Georgia, 1833-1910. Mercer University Press. p. 549. ISBN 9780865547483. Retrieved 2015-02-09.
2. "Savannah Architects: Hyman Witcover". Freeman's Rag. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
3. Thompson, Ronald (1982-01-01). "Hyman Wallace Witcover: An Inconclusive Biography". Savannah Biographies.
4. Carolyn Brooks (June 6, 1985). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Ardsley Park-Chatham Crescent". National Park Service. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
5. Savannah by Whip Morrison Triplett
6. Executive Director's Report Archived 2010-12-12 at the Wayback Machine