Wyatt C. Hedrick

Wyatt Cephus Hedrick (December 17, 1888, in Chatham, Virginia – May 5, 1964, in Houston, Texas) was an American architect, engineer, and developer most active in Texas and the American South. He began his career as an engineer, working in Virginia and Texas. He started his own firm in Fort Worth, and later merged with the architecture firm of Sanguinet & Staats before buying out the interests of the senior partners.

Early life Wyatt Cephus Hedrick was born December 17, 1888, in Chatham, Virginia, to Washington Henry and Emma Cephas (Williams) Hedrick. He matriculated at Roanoke College, gaining his bachelor's degree in 1909. He earned a degree in engineering the next year from Washington and Lee University.

Career In 1910, Hedrick started a career in engineering, working briefly for Lane Brothers in his home state. Later that year he accepted a position at the Dallas office of Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation. He was a construction engineer for about three years.

Hedrick was accepted into the partnership of Sanguinet & Staats in 1921, an architecture firm based in Fort Worth which specialized in skyscrapers.

Hedrick worked mainly in a stripped-down classical style. With his extensive university and government work, at one time his firm was the third-largest in the United States.

Hedrick is also known for his eight Texas courthouses, all of which are still standing. They include: Austin County, Brazoria County, Coke County, Coleman County, Comanche, County, Kent County, Motley County, and Yoakum County.

Personal life In 1918 he married Pauline Stripling. In 1925, he married Mildred Sterling, and in 1931 his father-in-law, Ross S. Sterling, became governor of Texas. Lubbock, Texas Texas Tech University 1925 Sanguinet, Staats and Hedrick William Ward Watkin, associate architect Sanger Brothers Building Houston 1926 Sanguinet, Staats, Hedrick and Gottlieb The Oliver Rea Eakle Building (Name changed to The Barfield in ~1947) Amarillo 600 S. Polk St. 1926 yes Undergoing restoration as of Oct. 2019 Sanguinet, Staats, Hedrick and Gottlieb Fort Worth Elks Lodge 124 Corpus Christi, Texas 430 S. Carancahua St. 1929 Baker Hotel United States Post Office Midland, Texas 1938 Hedrick and Company Amarillo US Post Office and Courthouse Amarillo, Texas 205 E. Fifth St. 1939 yes Comanche County Courthouse (Comanche, Texas) Comanche, Texas 1939 Wyatt C. Hedrick WPA project Star School building Star, Texas 1940 Wyatt C. Hedrick WPA project B H Carroll Memorial Building Fort Worth 1948 Shamrock Hotel Houston 1949 Razed Corrigan Tower Dallas 1952 Remodel of Coleman County Courthouse Coleman, Texas 1952 Wyatt Hedrick Cotton Belt Building Robert Lee, Texas 1956 Wyatt C. Hedrick, with Harry Weaver Annex to Live Oak County Courthouse George West, Texas 1956 Wyatt Hedrick Rosedale Park Elementary School (Maudrie Walton Elementary School) Fort Worth 5816 Rickenbacker Pl. 1956 Wyatt C. Hedrick Austin County Courthouse Bellville, Texas 1960 Wyatt C. Hedrick Fidelity Union Life Insurance Building Angleton, Texas 1976 yes Wyatt C. Hedrick

One or more works in Wharton County Courthouse Historic Commercial District, Roughly bounded by the alley N of Milam St., Rusk St., Elm St. and Richmond St. Wharton, TX, NRHP-listed