# Thomas Podmore

Thomas Podmore (1859–1948) was an architect from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. In addition to his lengthy architectural career as an architect, Podmore is noteworthy for his experiments with the fabrication of concrete products.

## Early life

Thomas Podmore was born at Cherrington, Shropshire, England in 1859, the son of a farmer, and was baptized at the nearby village of Tibberton on March 23, 1859. In 1881, he was living on St. Ann Street in Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, employed as an "architect's assistant."

## Career in America

Podmore emigrated to the United States about 1883, worked for a few years in New York, then moved to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. There, in 1886, he joined forces with Albert Hamilton Kipp (1850–1906) to form the architecture firm Kipp & Podmore. The firm dissolved by mutual consent at the end of 1891.
In 1903, Podmore received a patent for a "machine for molding concrete blocks," and in 1907 founded the Podmore Concrete Co., for the manufacture of concrete blocks by a method of Podmore's own devising.
Podmore retired in 1928 after the completion of his last building, Sprague Memorial Hall, in Kingston, Pennsylvania. He died in 1948.

## Principal Architectural Works

* Nelson Memorial Hall, Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania, built in 1887 — as Kipp & Podmore.
* Methodist Episcopal Church, Dallas, Pennsylvania, completed in 1889 — as Kipp & Podmore.
* Armory, Gaylord Avenue, Plymouth, Pennsylvania, built in 1891 — as Kipp & Podmore.
* State Street School, Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, built in 1891 — as Kipp & Podmore.
* St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Plymouth, Pennsylvania, built in 1893.
* Wyoming Valley Country Club, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, built 1896.
* W. G. Eno Residence, Ross Street, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, built 1899.
* J. B. Woodward Residence, Northampton Street, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, built 1899.
* Town Hall, Edwardsville, Pennsylvania, built 1899.
* Wyoming Valley Country Club Enlargement, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, built 1903.
* Grace English Lutheran Church, 500 S. Franklin St, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, dedicated May 1911.
* R. R. M. Carpenter Residence, Wilmington Delaware, built in 1911.
* Wilkes-Barre Contagious Hospital, East Division Street, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, completed 1918.
* Walter S. Carpenter Jr. Residence, Wilmington, Delaware, completed in 1918.
* Nesbitt Memorial Athletic Field, Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania, dedicated October 1922.
* Sprague Hall, Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania, completed in 1928.

## Gallery

* Nelson Memorial Hall, Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania, completed 1887.
* Nelson Memorial, Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania, photographed in 2013.
* Methodist Episcopal Church, Dallas, Pennsylvania, completed 1889.
* Armory, Gaylord Avenue, Plymouth, Pennsylvania, completed 1891.
* St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Plymouth, Pennsylvania, completed 1893.
* Wyoming Valley Country Club, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, built 1896.
* Town Hall, Edwardsville, Pennsylvania, completed 1899.
* Wyoming Valley Country Club Enlargement, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, completed 1903.
* Sprague Memorial, Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania, completed 1928.