Clarence H. Johnston, Sr.

Clarence Howard Johnston Sr. (August 26, 1859 – December 29, 1936) was an American architect who practiced in the US state of Minnesota during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Specializing in domestic, religious, and public architecture, he served as Minnesota State Architect from 1901 to 1931. He is considered one of the most prolific architects in the state's history.

Early life Johnston's parents, Alexander Johnston and Louise Johnston (née Buckhout), moved to Waseca County, Minnesota, in 1856, along with a few other families. They established a settlement named Okaman on the shores of Lake Elysian. Their first son, John Buckhout Johnston, was born in 1858, and became a prominent manufacturer and businessman. Clarence Johnston was born August 26, 1859. The family then moved to Wilton, which was then the county seat of Waseca County, and Alexander Johnston took over the publication of a local newspaper. In 1861 the family moved to Faribault. Their third child, Grace, was born March 2, 1862. They moved again, to Saint Paul, where their fourth child, Charles Albert, was born in 1864. After moving briefly to Hastings, the family returned to Saint Paul permanently in 1868. Alexander Johnston was then a reporter for the Daily Pioneer newspaper.

Education and apprenticeship

Johnston started attending Saint Paul High School in 1872 and took on a job as a clerk at the law firm of Rogers and Rogers. His mother died May 8, 1874, at the age of 42. That same year, Johnston quit his clerical job and began work at the firm of Abraham M. Radcliffe as a draughtsman. Radcliffe's firm was a local training ground for aspiring architects at the time. In September 1876, Cass Gilbert joined Radcliffe's firm as an apprentice, and Gilbert and Johnston soon became close friends. Rochester Main building additions and alterations, dormitories and hospital buildings State Asylum for the Insane, Anoka Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center Anoka Main building additions and alterations, several cottages for men and women, new administration building in 1919 Hastings Asylum for the Insane Minnesota Veterans Home, Hastings Hastings Main building additions and alterations, several cottage and dormitory buildings Training School for Boys Minnesota Correctional Facility – Red Wing Red Wing Main building additions and alterations, auditorium/gymnasium, shop building, kitchen building, and cottages Minnesota State Reformatory Minnesota Correctional Facility – St. Cloud St. Cloud South wing completion, new administration building, cell houses D, E, and F, hospital Minnesota State Prison Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater Stillwater Initial design of the new Bayport location authorized in 1905, administration building, four cellhouses, machinery factory/shops/foundry, warden and deputy warden's residences Minnesota School for the Feeble-Minded Closed 1998, Sauk Centre Women's Reformatory 1918 Minnesota Correctional Facility – Shakopee Shakopee Minnesota Colony for Epileptics 1924 Cambridge State Hospital, closed 1999 North of St. Paul Agricultural school added to Northwest Agricultural Experiment Station 1905 University of Minnesota Crookston Crookston School of agriculture and boys' dormitory Boys' dormitory and dining hall (Stephens Hall) Farm mechanics building (Owen Hall) Library and assembly hall (Kiehle Hall) Ladies' dormitory (Robertson Hall) Industrial building (possibly an addition to Owen Hall) Science building (Hill Building) (demolished 1959, replaced by a new Hill Hall) Boys' dormitory (Selvig Hall) Dining hall (Bede Hall), demolished 2004 Four-family cottage Health service Gymnasium Agricultural school added to Northeast Agricultural Experiment Station 1905 Now part of Itasca Community College Grand Rapids School of agriculture, Bergh Hall, and Donovan Hall West Central School of Agriculture 1910 University of Minnesota Morris Morris Ladies' dormitory (Camden Hall) Men's dormitory (Spooner Hall) Dining hall and gymnasium (Behmler Hall) Boys' dormitory (Blakely Hall) Main building (Agricultural Hall) Dormitory (Pine Hall) Gymnasium South Agricultural Experiment Station 1912 University of Minnesota Waseca (now defunct) Waseca Superintendent's residence Northeast Demonstration Farm and Experiment Station 1912 razed Duluth Institute Hall Bemidji State Normal School 1918 Bemidji State University Bemidji Deputy Hall, Sanford Hall, training school wing and heating plant Minnesota Historical Society building 1916-1918 Minnesota Judicial Center St. Paul Minnesota State Office Building 1931-1932 St. Paul For all the institutions above, Clarence H. Johnston Sr. either designed new buildings, designed improvements to existing buildings, or both.

Notable works

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Campus Child Development and Folwell Hall, part of the University of Minnesota Old Campus Historic District Collaborator with Cass Gilbert on the Northrop Mall Northrop Auditorium Walter Library Williams Arena

University of Minnesota, Saint Paul Campus Haecker Hall (Dairy Husbandry) Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Building Coffey Hall McNeal Hall Eastcliff, the residence of the President of the University of Minnesota

Other buildings

Minnesota State Fair Grandstand Burbank–Livingston–Griggs House, 432 Summit Avenue, Saint Paul 976 Summit Ave., Saint Paul Pierce and Walter Butler House, 1345-1347 Summit Avenue, Saint Paul Henry Byllesby Row House, Saint Paul Saint Paul Academy, lower school building, formerly the Summit School for Girls Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf Administration Building, Faribault, Minnesota Glensheen Historic Estate, Duluth, Minnesota Duluth State Normal School buildings, now the University of Minnesota Duluth lower campus Several buildings of the University of Minnesota Morris, dating back to its foundation as West Central School of Agriculture and Experiment Station Historic District Saint Paul Central High School, 1912 building at Marshall Avenue and Lexington Parkway. Minnesota Humanities Center (Formerly Dowling Memorial Hall on the Gillette Children's Hospital Campus at Phalen Lake), 1924. Building at 987 Ivy Avenue East in Saint Paul, Minnesota Several buildings on the Saint Paul campus of Hamline University. City Hall Annex (Lowry Medical Arts Building). Trade and Commerce Building, 916 Hammond Avenue, Superior, Wisconsin. Farrar-Howes Houses, 596-604 Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, Minnesota Church of the Most Holy Trinity, Veseli, Minnesota Olaf Lee House, 955 N. Jessie St., Saint Paul Manhattan Building (St. Paul, Minnesota), 360 N. Robert St., Saint Paul Buildings within Red Wing Mall Historic District and Red Wing Residential Historic District, Red Wing, Minnesota Salvation Army Women's Home and Hospital, 1471 W. Como Ave., Saint Paul St. Mary's Hall, 4th St., NE and 4th Ave. NE, Faribault, Minnesota