# Joseph Finger

Joseph Finger (7 March 1887 – 6 February 1953) was an Austrian American architect. After immigrating to the United States in 1905, Finger settled in Houston, Texas in 1908, where he would remain for the duration of his life. Finger is best remembered for his role in bringing modern architecture to Texas.

## Early years

Joseph Finger was born 7 March 1887 in Bielitz, Austria-Hungary to Henri Finger (1862-1941) and Hani Seifter (1870-1947). After finishing high school and technical training, he moved to the United States in 1905.

## Career

Finger settled first in New Orleans in 1905, then moved to Houston, Texas in three years later. He found employment with C. D. Hill & Company, an architecture firm based in Dallas, where he worked for about five years.
Finger joined a series of architecture partnerships, starting with Green & Finger in 1913. At that firm, he designed the DeGeorge Hotel, located at the corner of Preston and Labranch. His second partnership was with Lamar Q. Cato (Finger & Cato). After 1922, he worked independently. By the late 1920s, he established a robust business for hotel design, completing three hotels outside Houston, and the Auditorium Hotel, the Ben Milam Hotel, the Plaza Hotel, and the Texas State Hotel, all in Houston. Many of these hotels catered to wealthy residents with modern amenities such as air conditioning and running ide-water. All of these Houston hotels were still standing through the first part of 2012, when the Auditorium and Texas State still operated as hotels, the DeGeorge was used as a hotel for veterans, and the Plaza as a bank. By the end of 2012, however, the Ben Milam was taken down.
While conservative style marked Finger's luxury hotels, some of his other buildings reflected Art Deco style. In 1925, he designed the Temple Beth Israel, more recently repurposed as a theater building for Houston Community College. His 1929 building, the Houston Turn-Verein Clubhouse, employed some Austrian-inspired "zig-zag" Art Deco elements. Meanwhile he was the architect of over two dozen Art Deco grocery stores for the Weingarten chain.
Though Finger established a practice of commercial architecture, he also designed many single-family residences, especially in the Riverside Terrace neighborhood in Houston. One of these was for Abe Weingarten. Jesse H. Jones contracted for his services for a mixed-use building to house the Houston Chamber of Commerce with a store front for Levy Brothers' Dry Goods, a collaboration with Alfred C. Finn. This design team later produced Jefferson Davis Hospital, which occupied a site more recently occupied by the Federal Reserve Building.
From 1944 until his death in 1953, Finger worked in a partnership with George W. Rustay.
Finger designed the 1939 Houston City Hall, designed in a stripped classical style. In response to criticism from Houston mayor R. H. Fonville, who wanted a style with more classical reference, Finger said, "Here in America we are rapidly developing our own type of architecture which is far above that of foreign countries. We are building for the masses, not the classes." Above the lobby entrance of the City Hall is a stone relief of two men taming a wild horse, symbolizing a community coming together to form a government to tame the world around them. This sculpture, and the twenty-seven other friezes around the building, were carved by Beaumont artist Herring Coe and co-designer Raoul Josset.

## Personal life

On June 18, 1913, Finger married Gertrude Levy (1891-1985), a Houston native. The couple had one son, Joseph Seifter Finger (1918-2003), who also practiced architecture.
In Houston, Finger was a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Houston Chamber of Commerce, Houston Turn-Verein, B'nai B'rith, and the Westwood Country Club.

## Death and legacy

On 6 February 1953, a month short of his 66th birthday, Finger died in Houston. He is buried in Beth Israel Mausoleum in Beth Israel Cemetery.

## Works

| Name | City | Address | Year | Status | Architects |
| Panama Hotel | Galveston, Texas | 202 Rosenberg Street | 1912 | | Green and Finger |
| American National Insurance Company | Galveston, Texas | | 1913 | Demolished | |
| Model Laundry | Galveston, Texas | 513 25th Street | 1913 | | Green and Finger |
| De George Hotel | Houston, Texas | 1418 Preston Street | 1913 | | |
| Concordia Club | Houston, Texas | | 1915 | Demolished | |
| Sterne Building | Houston, Texas | 300 Main Street | 1916 | | |
| Cheek-Neal Coffee Company | Houston, Texas | 2017 Preston Street | 1917 | | |
| Keystone Building | Houston, Texas | 1120 Texas Avenue | 1922 | | |
| Tennison Hotel | Houston, Texas | 110 Bagby Street | 1922 | | |
| Ricou-Brewster Building | Shreveport, Louisiana | 421 Milam Street | 1924 | Demolished | with Seymour Van Os |
| Temple Beth Israel | Houston, Texas | 3517 Austin Street | 1924 | Now Heinen Theatre | |
| Texas Packing Company | Houston, Texas | | 1924 | | |
| William Penn Hotel | Houston, Texas | 1423 Texas Avenue | 1925 | Demolished 2006 | |
| Citizens State Bank | Houston, Texas | 3620 Washington Avenue | 1925 | Now Rockefeller Hall | |
| Auditorium Hotel | Houston, Texas | 701 Texas Avenue | 1926 | Now Lancaster Hotel | |
| Wade Irvin House | La Porte, Texas | 431 Bayridge Road | 1927 | | |
| Vaughn Hotel | Port Arthur, Texas | 600 Proctor Street | 1929 | | |
| Charleston Hotel | Lake Charles, Louisiana | 900 South Ryan Street | 1929 | | |
| Joseph Finger House | Houston, Texas | 2221 Rosedale Avenue | 1929 | | |
| A. C. Burton Company Auto Showroom | Houston, Texas | 1400 Main Street | 1929 | Demolished | |
| Texas State Hotel | Houston, Texas | 720 Fannin Street | 1929 | Now Club Quarters Hotel | |
| Houston Turn-Verein Clubhouse | Houston, Texas | 5202 Almeda Road | 1929 | Demolished 1993 | |
| James West House | Houston, Texas | 3303 East NASA Parkway | 1929 | | |
| Plaza Hotel | Houston, Texas | 5020 Montrose Boulevard | 1929 | | |
| McCartney Hotel | Texarkana, Texas | 100 Front Street | 1930 | Abandoned | |
| Wolff Memorial Home | Houston, Texas | | 1930 | Demolished | |
| Simon and Mamie Minchen House | Houston, Texas | 1753 North Boulevard | 1931 | | |
| Thomas Monroe House | Houston, Texas | 1624 Kirby Drive | 1931 | | |
| Davis House | Houston, Texas | 2330 North Braeswood Boulevard | 1933 | | |
| Barker Brothers Studio | Houston, Texas | 4912 Main Street | 1931 | | |
| Henry Tennison House | Houston, Texas | 427 Lovett Boulevard | 1932 | Now owned by Alliance Française | |
| Byrd's Department Store | Houston, Texas | 420 Main Street | 1934 | | |
| Beth Israel Mausoleum | Houston, Texas | 1207 West Dallas Street | 1935 | | |
| Montgomery County Courthouse | Conroe, Texas | 301 North Main Street | 1935 | | |
| Jefferson Davis Hospital | Houston, Texas | 1801 Allen Parkway | 1936 | Demolished 1999 | with Alfred C. Finn |
| Ben Milam Hotel | Houston, Texas | 1521 Texas Avenue | 1936 | Demolished 2012 | |
| Clarke and Courts Printing Plant | Houston, Texas | 1210 West Clay Street | 1936 | Now Tribeca Lofts | |
| John Platt House | Houston, Texas | 3311 Del Monte Drive | 1936 | | |
| Joseph Weingarten House | Houston, Texas | 4000 South MacGregor Way | 1937 | Currently undergoing full restoration | |
| Tower Community Centre | Houston, Texas | 1003 Westheimer Road | 1937 | | |
| Abe Weingarten House | Houston, Texas | 3612 Parkwood Drive | 1938 | | |
| Wesley West House | Houston, Texas | Riverside Drive and Live Oak Street | 1938 | Demolished 1963 | |
| Houston City Hall | Houston, Texas | 901 Bagby Street | 1939 | | |
| Parker Brothers and Company | Houston, Texas | 5305 Navigation Boulevard | 1939 | | |
| Houston Municipal Airport Terminal | Houston, Texas | 8325 Travelair Street | 1939 | Operating as museum | |
| Abe Battelstein House | Houston, Texas | 3615 Parkwood Drive | 1940 | | |
| Carnation Company Creamery | Houston, Texas | 701 Waugh Drive | 1946 | Demolished | |
| Beth Yeshurun Synagogue | Houston, Texas | 3501 Southmore Avenue | 1949 | Now Lucian L. Lockhart Elementary School | |
| Battelstein Building | Houston, Texas | 812 Main Street | 1950 | | George Rustay, junior partner |
| Harris County Courthouse | Houston, Texas | | 1953 | |
| Sol Weingarten Family Home | Houston, Texas | 3222 Oakmont Drive | 1949 | Abandoned; restoration in process | |