Sidney J. and S. Eugene Osgood Pages 187-188 - Sidney J. and S. Eugene Osgood are the constituent members of a Grand Rapids firm that has gained high reputation in the domain of architectural art and science, and both father and son are numbered among the representative American architects, with many of the finest types of public, business and private buildings to stand as evidence of their technical skill and their exceptional facility in the expression of the highest forms of architectural artistry. Sidney J. Osgood was born in the state of Maine, and his advanced training for his chosen profession was received in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, as supplemental to a liberal education along more specific academic lines. In 1876 he established his residence in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where his first project was rebuilding the Kent County jail after it had been destroyed by fire. He has continued in the active and successful practice of his profession during the long intervening period of half a century. Though he is now venerable in years he still finds satisfaction in giving active attention to the work of the profession that he has dignified and advanced by his large and successful achievement, as well as by his sterling attributes of character. Mr. Osgood is a life member and Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a distinction which few architects obtain. His son and valued professional coadjutor, S. Eugene Osgood, is able to advert to Grand Rapids as the place of his nativity, his birth having been here occurred on the 11th of April, 1880, and his studies in the public schools of the city having been continued until his graduation in the high school. Thereafter he was employed a year in his father’s office, and he then entered Cornell University, in which he continued his studies, graduating in June, 1902, his study and his practical experience having gained to him a broad and effective knowledge of the technique and also the art and construction details of architecture. Since 1904 he has been a partner in his father’s business, which is conducted under the firm name of Osgood & Osgood. The family name has long stood exponent of the best in architectural achievement, and it may be noted in this connection that the father, Sidney J. Osgood, was the architect of the beautiful and famous Congregational church at Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The firm of Osgood & Osgood has maintained its offices in various Grand Rapids buildings, including the Porter Block, the Widdicomb building, the new building of the Grand Rapids Herald, of which the last two named the firm were the architects, and finally the Monument Square building, on Monroe avenue, which was designed by the firm and erected under its direct supervision, the large and well-equipped offices in this building having been occupied by Osgood & Osgood since 1919. The firm has specialized in the designing of Masonic Temples of the highest grade, and its principals are at the time of this writing in the summer of 1925, serving as consulting architects of the great George Washington Masonic National Memorial Temple which is in course of erection in the city of Alexandria, Virginia. The members of the firm are also consulting architects for the magnificent new Masonic Temple in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are the designing and supervision architects of important Masonic Temple projects in the following cities: Canton, Ohio; South Bend, Indiana; Bay City, Michigan; Brockton, Massachusetts; and Providence, Rhode Island. Many fine buildings in Grand Rapids and other Michigan cities stand as monuments to the professional skill of Sidney J. Osgood and S. Eugene Osgood, among them the following: Kent County Court House, Keeler Building, Houseman & Jones Building, Kortlander Building, Grand Rapids Savings Bank Building, Commercial Bank Building, Corl & Knott Building and the Grand Rapids Masonic Temple. They have also built twenty-four churches, several schools and residences, and the firm has gained a reputation that transcends mere local limitations and has become national in its scope.

Transcriber: Nancy Myers
Created: 22 March 2003