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| 1917 advertisement from Directory of City of Miami Beach |
By Jane Feehan
Fort Lauderdale’s first high school, Fort Lauderdale Central, was built in 1915. Its architect was August Geiger (1887-1968), already well known in Miami and Miami Beach for his work.
From Connecticut, Geiger settled in Miami in 1905 and opened an office in 1911. He was off and running soon after, becoming one of the first (10th) registered architects in Florida.
Miami and Miami Beach grew significantly during the early 19th century with its burgeoning tourist industry, land boom and accompanying skyline of notable buildings.
Geiger’s work includes the Lincoln Hotel and Apartments (1917) on Miami Beach, demolished long ago. His firm also designed Miami’s first “sky scraper,” the 12-story Ralston Hotel (1917), and, in the same year, the Miami City Hospital (now Jackson Memorial).
Additionally, he designed the Miami Beach Municipal Golf Course House, the Community Theater of Miami Beach, the Dade County Courthouse, and Villa Serena, home of William Jennings Bryan, noted orator and politician. He commissioned Geiger to design his home in 1913 in Coconut Grove.
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| Wm Jennings Bryan home, 1920 State Archives of Florida |
Geiger, known for his Mediterranean Revival style, also drew the plans for the Lincoln Road oceanfront home of Miami Beach developer Carl Fisher. In 1915, demand for the architect's style prompted Geiger to open an office in Palm Beach. Many of his surviving buildings in South Florida have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Though Geiger was the design force behind Fort Lauderdale’s high school and its women’s club, the city claims Frances Abreu as its own architect. Both men brought a vision to Miami and Fort Lauderdale that defined early 19th- century South Florida.
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| Lincoln Hotel, 1922 States Archives of Florida/Fishbaugh 1922 |
Copyright © 2012, 2023 . All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.
For more on Frances Abreu, see index for architects
For more Fort Lauderdale High School history, see index.
For more on William Jennings Bryan, see index.
Sources:
Kleinberg, Howard. Woggles and Cheese Houses. Miami Beach: The Greater Miami & Beaches Hotel Association (2005)
Miami News, Mar. 16, 1917
Wikipedia
For more on William Jennings Bryan, see index.
Sources:
Kleinberg, Howard. Woggles and Cheese Houses. Miami Beach: The Greater Miami & Beaches Hotel Association (2005)
Miami News, Mar. 16, 1917
Wikipedia
Tags: early South Florida architects, Fort Lauderdale history, Miami history
