H. A. Overbeck

Harry A. Overbeck (1861–1942) was an American architect. He was active in Omaha, Nebraska and then for most of his career in Dallas, Texas. He designed several prominent buildings including a Mississippi Landmark and properties on the National Register of Historic Places.

Early life and education Harry A. Overbeck was born on July 19, 1861, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He father was a contractor,

Overbeck continued his studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the Ohio Architectural and Mechanical Institute. He had an office in the Slaughter Building in Dallas.

In 1914, Overbeck was chosen as the president of the Texas State Association of Architects. His 1917 plans for designing a "humane" county jail in Dallas (known as Tom Green County Jail), included a pipe organ for music; but the state commissioners bailed on raising the funds, and his fundraising efforts stopped due to the activities around World War I. He was involved in overseeing the removal of the clock tower from the Dallas County Courthouse in 1919. In 1927, he became a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) College of Fellows.

He died on January 20, 1942, and is buried in Restland Memorial Park in Dallas. The Southern Methodist University (SMU) libraries houses The George W. Cook Dallas/Texas Image Collection, which contains a 1900s photograph of Overbeck's office and its staff.

List of works

Linz Building (1898), Dallas, Texas; demolished in 1963 Temple B'nai Israel (1905), Natchez, Mississippi; listed as a Mississippi Landmark Hebrew Union Temple (1906), Greenville, Mississippi Levi–Moses House , Dallas, Texas; listed on the National Register of Historic Places Dallas Fire Station No. 16 (1917), Dallas, Texas Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad (MKT) headquarters (1912–1914), 701 Commerce Street in West End Historic District, Dallas, Texas; now known as the Katy Building Crane Building (1909), Dallas, Texas; which was fireproof Texas Moline Plow Building (1903), at 302 North Market, Dallas, Texas Purse and Company Building (1905) at 601 Elm, Dallas, Texas Holy Trinity College building (1906), Dallas, Texas; Peter Farrell House in Munger Place, Dallas, Texas