DARMER, Carl August (1858-1952), a well-known architect from Tacoma, Washington who was lured north th the Kootenay Region in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia. His name is recorded as an architect living and working in Rossland, B.C. (British Columbia Directory, 1897, 847), and he may have been attracted to the silver mining boom in the region. In 1897, he was credited with the design of substantial 3 storey commercial block for J.M. Harris, located on Reco Avenue in SANDON, B.C. [now a ghost town, with few buildings remaining]. The Harris Block had a 90 foot frontage on the street. A description of his design appeared in The Paystreak [Sandon], 8 May 1897, 1, and was credited to “C.A. Darmer, architect”. Darmer was born in Germany on 19 July 1858 and he arrived in the United States in November 1881. He was active in the following offices:
Farrell & Darmer, Architects, Tacoma, 1885-1892
C.A. Darmer, Architect, Tacoma 1892-1896
C.A. Darmer, Architect, Rossland, British Columbia 1897
C.A. Darmer, Architect, Tacoma 1898-1907
Darmer & Cutting, Architects, Tacoma 1908-1913
C.A. Darmer, Architect, 1916- c. 1940
Darmer died in Tacoma on 23 February 1952 at the age of 93 years. The Special Collections Division of the University of Washington Libraries in Seattle holds a collection of original architectural drawings by Darmer. A biography of this architect can be found online at the Pacific Coast Architecture Database.
Farrell & Darmer
CHICAGO, ILL., The Washington State Pavilion at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893. The Tacoma firm of Farrell & Darmer were one of 21 architects from the State of Washington to submit an entry in the competition for this pavilion (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 18 Nov. 1891, 8, descrip.). Their design was not among the finalists.
C.A. Darmer
TACOMA, WASH., Interstate Fair, 1894. Darmer obtained the commission to design two large pavilions at the State Fair, including the Mining Building, and the Forestry Building (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2 March 1894, 2)
TACOMA, WASH., The Miller Block, Commerce Street South at Eleventh Street, for C. Miller, 1904 (Tacoma Times, 18 Jan. 1904, 1)
TACOMA, WASH., The Cogswel Block, C Street near Eleventh Street, 1904 (Tacoma Times, 19 Sept. 1904, 3)
Darmer & Cutting
TACOMA, WASH., apartment block for the Lewis Brothers, Yakima Avenue at North Third Street, 1909 (Tacoma Times, 12 Aug. 1909, 6)