Joseph Finger

Joseph Finger (7 March 1887 – 6 February 1953) was an Austrian American architect. After immigrating to the United States in 1905, Finger settled in Houston, Texas in 1908, where he would remain for the duration of his life. Finger is best remembered for his role in bringing modern architecture to Texas.

Early years Joseph Finger was born 7 March 1887 in Bielitz, Austria-Hungary to Henri Finger (1862-1941) and Hani Seifter (1870-1947). After finishing high school and technical training, he moved to the United States in 1905.

Career Finger settled first in New Orleans in 1905, then moved to Houston, Texas in three years later. He found employment with C. D. Hill & Company, an architecture firm based in Dallas, where he worked for about five years.

Finger joined a series of architecture partnerships, starting with Green & Finger in 1913. At that firm, he designed the DeGeorge Hotel, located at the corner of Preston and Labranch. His second partnership was with Lamar Q. Cato (Finger & Cato). After 1922, he worked independently. By the late 1920s, he established a robust business for hotel design, completing three hotels outside Houston, and the Auditorium Hotel, the Ben Milam Hotel, the Plaza Hotel, and the Texas State Hotel, all in Houston. Many of these hotels catered to wealthy residents with modern amenities such as air conditioning and running ide-water. All of these Houston hotels were still standing through the first part of 2012, when the Auditorium and Texas State still operated as hotels, the DeGeorge was used as a hotel for veterans, and the Plaza as a bank. By the end of 2012, however, the Ben Milam was taken down.

Personal life On June 18, 1913, Finger married Gertrude Levy (1891-1985), a Houston native. The couple had one son, Joseph Seifter Finger (1918-2003), who also practiced architecture. Galveston, Texas 202 Rosenberg Street 1912 Green and Finger American National Insurance Company Galveston, Texas 1913 Demolished Model Laundry Galveston, Texas 513 25th Street 1913 Green and Finger De George Hotel Houston, Texas 4000 South MacGregor Way 1937 Currently undergoing full restoration Tower Community Centre Houston, Texas 1003 Westheimer Road 1937 Abe Weingarten House Houston, Texas 901 Bagby Street 1939 Parker Brothers and Company Houston, Texas 5305 Navigation Boulevard 1939 Houston Municipal Airport Terminal Houston, Texas 8325 Travelair Street 1939 Operating as museum Abe Battelstein House Finger and Rustay; completed after Finger's death Remodel of the 1910 Harris County Courthouse Houston, Texas 301 Fannin Street 1956 Restoration to the original style began in March 2009. Finger and Rustay; work started after Finger's death