Paul Bartholomew
Paul Amos Batholomew (1883–1973) was an architect in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. From the beginning of his practice, he received a variety of high-profile commissions for both residential and non-residential structures, mainly in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. His buildings typically had historicist facades, with neoclassical or Italianate ornamentation covering a modern framework. It was only in the 1950s, toward the end of his career, that he created buildings that were purely modern in design. During the Great Depression, a particularly trying time for architects, he received the commission to design Norvelt, which was a new town created as part  of President Roosevelt's New Deal policies. One of his commissions, the Citizens National Bank of Latrobe of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, designed with partner Brandon Smith, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Many of Bartholomew's works are contributing properties to the Greensburg Downtown Historic District and the Academy Hill Historic District. Biography. Paul Batholomew was born in Cleveland, Ohio on June 25, 1883. His parents were the Rev. Amos H. Bartholomew, a Lutheran minister, and Rachael (Kuhns) Bartholomew. Most of Paul Bartholomew's childhood was spent in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Gettysburg College in 1905, and  then studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he received a second degree in 1908. After graduation, he worked under architects in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. He eventually settled in Greensburg where he began his practice. Sources differ on the date he began his Greensburg practice; one source claims 1910 although his entry in an architects' directory states he began his practice in 1912. Throughout most of his career, his office was in the Coulter Building at 231 South Main Street in Greensburg. However, two 1929 publications list an office in the Keenan Building, Pittsburgh. Paul Bartholomew married Dorothy  W. Lyon, a Greensburg resident, on November 1, 1916. Paul Bartholomew died on December 8, 1973, at the age of 90. Partnership with Smith. Bartholomew formed a partnership with Brandon Smith (1889–1962), although sources differ on the year the partnership began. One source claims the partnership commenced in 1915, while Bartholomew's entry in an architects' directory states it began in 1920. In any event, the firm of Bartholomew & Smith was dissolved in 1928 when Smith left to form his own firm, Smith & Reif. Notable commissions. Among Bartholomew's commissions were the following: The remaining items are in chronological order