Edmond Jacques Eckel

The house of William Wyeth, now known as the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion, in St. Joseph, designed by Boettner & Eckel and completed in 1879. The buildings of Wholesale Row in St. Joseph, designed by Eckel & Mann for several clients and built between 1880 and 1884. The houses of Adam N. Schuster (right) and James H. Robison (left) in St. Joseph, designed by Eckel & Mann and completed in 1881 and 1888, respectively. The former Pottawattamie County Courthouse in Council Bluffs, Iowa, designed by Eckel & Mann and completed in 1888. The former Central Police Station in St. Joseph, designed by Eckel & Mann and completed in 1891. The Livestock Exchange Building in St. Joseph, designed by Eckel and completed in 1899. The downtown branch of the St. Joseph Public Library, designed by Eckel and completed in 1902. The Dr. Jacob Geiger House-Maud Wyeth Painter House in St. Joseph, designed by Eckel & Aldrich and completed in 1912. The St. Joseph City Hall, designed by Eckel & Aldrich and completed in 1927. The DeKalb County Courthouse in Maysville, Missouri, designed by Eckel & Aldrich and completed in 1939. Edmond J. Eckel (June 22, 1845 – December 12, 1934) was an architect in practice in St. Joseph, Missouri, from 1872 until his death in 1934. In 1880 he was the founder of Eckel & Mann, later Eckel & Aldrich and Brunner & Brunner, which was the oldest architectural firm in Missouri prior to its eventual dissolution in 1999.

Life and career Edmond Jacques Eckel was born June 22, 1845, in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, to Jacques Eckel, a manufacturer, and Louise Elizabeth Caroline (Schweighaeuser) Eckel. He was educated at what is now the Jean Sturm Gymnasium and studied architecture under the city architect of Strasbourg. In 1863 he moved to Paris to continue his education and studied in the Beaux-Arts ateliers of Alexis Paccard and Léon Vaudoyer. He was admitted to the second, or junior, class of the Ecole de Beaux-Arts in 1866 but left without graduating in 1868. Eckel then immigrated to the United States and lived first in New York City and Cleveland. In 1869 he decided to move on to Kansas City, Missouri, but a railroad layover in St. Joseph, about fifty miles north of Kansas City, prompted him to stay and settle.

In 1880 Boettner and Eckel dissolved their partnership, and Eckel formed a new firm, Eckel & Mann, with George R. Mann, a former employee of Boettner & Eckel. In 1912 he was a founder of the short-lived St. Joseph Society of Architects and served as its first president.

Personal life Eckel was married in 1875 to Minnie Louise Schroers in St. Joseph. They had four children: Edmond George Eckel, Minnie Albertine (Eckel) Agnew, Elvie Emilie (Eckel) Forgrave and George Robert Eckel. His home, built in St. Joseph in 1885, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 but has been demolished. He was a member of the Masons, the Elks, the Benton Club and the St. Joseph Country Club. Eckel died December 12, 1934, in St. Joseph at the age of 89.

Eckel's firm outlived his death by over sixty years. Eckel & Aldrich continued under the leadership of Aldrich and the younger Eckel until their deaths in 1947 and 1959, respectively. In 1960 the firm was reorganized as Brunner & Brunner by their associate, Otto Brunner (1896–1974), and his son William A. Brunner (1930–2014). When Brunner & Brunner was dissolved in 1999 it was the oldest architectural firm in practice in Missouri. The firm's assets were acquired by River Bluff Architects, who in 2008 donated Eckel and Brunner's papers to the St. Joseph Museums, where several of Eckel's drawings are exhibited. River Bluff Architects suspended practice and was administratively dissolved by the State of Missouri in 2022.

A number of Eckel's and the firms' works are listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places, with various spelling errors.

Architectural works Stigers, Boettner & Company, 1874–1877 Christ Episcopal Church, 207 N 7th St, St. Joseph, Missouri (1877)

Boettner & Eckel, 1877–1880 William Wyeth house, 1100 Charles St, St. Joseph, Missouri (1879)

Eckel & Mann, 1880–1892 Wholesale Row, 210, 216, 218 and 224 N 4th St, St. Joseph, Missouri (1880, 1884, 1880 and 1882, NRHP 1977) Adam N. Schuster house, 703 Hall St, St. Joseph, Missouri (1881) Atchison County Courthouse, 400 S Washington St, Rock Port, Missouri (1882–83) Nodaway County Courthouse, Maryville, Missouri (1882–83, NRHP 1979) James P. Hamilton house, 1218 Main St, Bethany, Missouri (1882, NRHP 1985) Ringgold County Courthouse, 109 W Madison St, Mount Ayr, Iowa (1883, demolished) Gentry County Courthouse, Albany, Missouri (1884–85) DeKalb County Courthouse, Maysville, Missouri (1885, demolished 1938) Edmond Jacques Eckel House, 515 N 4th St, St. Joseph, Missouri (1885, NRHP 1980, demolished) Nathan P. and Elmarine Ogden house, 809 Hall St, St. Joseph, Missouri (1885) Pottawattamie County Courthouse, 227 S 6th St, Council Bluffs, Iowa (1885–88, demolished) C. D. Smith building, 313 S 3rd St, St. Joseph, Missouri (1888) Virginia Flats, 520-528 N 10th St, St. Joseph, Missouri (1888, NRHP 1992) German-American Bank Building, 108 S 7th St, St. Joseph, Missouri (1889, NRHP 1978) James H. Robison house, 631 Hall St, St. Joseph, Missouri (1888) Central Police Station, 701 Messanie St, St. Joseph, Missouri (1890–91, NRHP 2009) Alfred T. Smith house, 802 Hall St, St. Joseph, Missouri (1890)

Edmond J. Eckel, 1892–1910 George Hoagland building, 107 S 6th St, St. Joseph, Missouri (1892) Telephone Building, 116 S 7th St, St. Joseph, Missouri (1895) J. G. Schneider house, 1125 Krug Park Pl, St. Joseph, Missouri (1899) Samuel and Pauline Peery house, 1105 N Hundley St, Albany, Missouri (1901, NRHP 2005) St. Joseph Public Library, St. Joseph, Missouri (1901–02, NRHP 1982) Miller-Porter-Lacy House alterations, St. Joseph, Missouri (1902, NRHP 1982) St. Joseph Public Library-Carnegie Branch, St. Joseph, Missouri (1902, NRHP 1999) Carnegie Library of Albany, Albany, Missouri (1905–06, NRHP 1990) Carnegie Library, William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri (1908, demolished) Neely Elementary School alterations, St. Joseph, Missouri (1909)

Eckel & Aldrich, 1910–1959 Dr. Jacob Geiger House-Maud Wyeth Painter House, St. Joseph, Missouri (1911–12, NRHP 1986) Corby–Forsee Building addition, St. Joseph, Missouri (1927, NRHP 1980) DeKalb County Courthouse, Maysville, Missouri (1938–39, NRHP 1998)