Copeland & Dole

COPELAND & DOLE, architects of New York City, N.Y., were active there from 1896 to 1908. The partnership consisted of Harry Lewis Copeland (1869-1937), and William Herbert Dole (1869-1953). Their most significant work in Canada was the refined Beaux-Arts design for the Rankine Electric Generating Station on the Canadian side of the Niagara River at Niagara Falls, Ontario. Built between 1901 and 1904, this distinctive landmark extends nearly 300 feet along the river bank, and the facility still stands today as of 2019. Although the station itself was decommissioned in 2010, the complex is held in reserve to quickly generate electric power in the event of a major failure of the power grid in the northeastern United States or Canada.

H. Lewis Copeland was born in Philadelphia, Penn. in February 1869 and studied architecture at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. from 1890 to 1894. He opened an office in New York City under his own name in Brooklyn in 1895, and invited W.H. Dole to form a partnership with him in 1900 (D.S. Francis, Architects in Practice in New York City 1840-1900, 1979, p. 23). They collaborated on major projects until 1908, but their business relationship ended in 1909, with Copeland working under his own name in New York until 1911. Copeland later moved to the city of Olympia, Washington State in 1912 and in 1915 moved his office to Walla Walla, Wash. In 1923 he moved again, this time to nearby Longview, Washington and invited his son Paul to join him in a new practise there. This office was closed in 1929, and H.L. Copeland later died at Seattle,, Wash. on 8 October 1937 (obituary Spokane Daily Chronicle, 9 Oct. 1937, 2). A biography of Copeland appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on 3 May 1903, p. 3.

William H. Dole was a native of Hawaii, born at Koloa, Kauai on 14 October 1869, and he also studied architecture at Cornell University. It was there that he met H. Lewis Copeland, and both graduated in the same class at the School of Architecture in 1894. After the dissolution of the partnership of Copeland & Dole in 1909, Dole then joined the New York City Board of Transportation where he was staff architect and designer within the Subway Division, supervising the development and expansion of the subway system in four boroughs of the city. He held this post for more than 30 years, and retired from that position in 1941. He later died at West Orange, New Jersey on 10 March 1953 (obituary Courier-News [Bridgewater, N.J.], 12 March 1953, 32).

COPELAND & DOLE

(works in Canada)

NIAGARA FALLS, ONT., Rankine Electric Generating Station, for the Canadian Niagara Power Company, situated beside the Niagara Parkway at Fraser Hill, overlooking the Niagara River above the Horseshoe Falls, 1901-04; still standing as of 2019 (Mark Fram, Ontario Hydro - Ontario Heritage, 1980, 32-33, illus., but lacking attribution; Norman R. Ball, The Canadian Niagara Power Company Story, 2005, 36-7, illus. and drawing signed by the architects; 63-67, illus. & descrip.)

(works in New York City)

FIFTH AVENUE, at 63rd Street, a mansion for James B. Haggin, 1903 (New York Times, 7 May 1903, 8, descrip.)
MILLS HOTEL NO. 3, Seventh Avenue at West 36th Street, for Darius Ogden Mills, 1907; still standing as of 2019 (New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, Designation Statement 28 October 2014)

(works elsewhere)

NEW HAVEN, CONN., Fraternity House for Phi Gamma Delta, Temple Street, “…in the Egyptian style”, near Yale University, 1900 (New Haven Morning Journal & Courier, 24 Oct. 1900, 7, descrip.; 24 Dec. 1900. 10, illus. & descrip.)
FRESNO, CALIF., Carnegie Library, 1901-04; demol. 1959 (inf. California History & Genealogy Room, Fresno Public Library)
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, “Green Hills”, a mansion for James B. Haggin, on the Elmendorf Farm Lands, 1902; demol. 1929, but portico columns still standing (William M. Ambrose, Magnificent Elmendorf, 2012)
VERSAILLES, KENTUCKY, Ashland Episcopal Seminary, school and dormitory, Elm Street, 1902; renamed Margaret Hall School in 1903 (Courier-Journal [Louisville], 13 Oct. 1902, 2, descrip.)
VERSAILLES, KENTUCKY, The Logan Helm Memorial Public Library, North Main Street, 1904; still standing 2019 (Courier-Journal [Louisville], 24 June 1904, 7, t.c.)
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, The Electric Amusement Park, with designs for several buildings and pavilions at the Park, 1908 (The Sun [Baltimore], 17 May 1908, 14, illlus.)

H.L. COPELAND & SON

(works in Washington State)

LONGVIEW, WASH., The Rickles Building, Commerce Avenue, 1924; restored 1986 (Longview Daily News, 2 June 1983, A9; 22 May 1986, 11, illus. & descrip.)
LONGVIEW, WASH., Longview Community Church, Washington Way at Kessler Boulevard, 1925 (Longview Daily News, 10 April 1925, Section Five, p. 1, descrip.; Spokesman Review [Spokane], 22 Jan. 1926, Supplement Edition, 8, descrip; 20 Oct. 1973, 11, illus. & descrip., historical article on the church)
LONGVIEW, WASH., Stratford Building, Commerce Street at Hemlock Street, for A.J. Mahan, 1926 (Longview Daily News, 10 July 2002, 11, historical article)
LONGVIEW, WASH., large residence for George W. Garrett, near 30th Street and Ocean Beach, 1928 (Longview Daily News, 21 Oct. 1928; 12 Feb. 1977, Western Weekend Section, 6, illus. & descrip.)

COMPETITIONS

PATTERSON, NEW JERSEY, Passaic County Court House, 1896. This major architectural competition elicited 48 entries from architects across the United States. The design by Copeland & Dole was highly regarded by Prof. William R. Ware, the professional advisor to the competition, and was selected by him as one of 12 finalists who included other leading American architects such as Bruce Price, Carrere & Hastings, Arnold Brunner and John Galen Howard, all of New York City (New York Times, 3 Jan. 1897, 8, detailed report on the competition). The winner was Samuel Burridge Reed.
EAST LIVERPOOL, OHIO, Carnegie Library, East Fourth Street, 1900. A total of 28 architects from across the United States submitted plans for this, the first Carnegie Library built in Ohio (Evening News Review [East Liverpool], 25 May 1900, 1, report on the competition). The drawings by Copeland & Dole were set aside and A.W. Scott of East Liverpool was awarded the commission.
SAINT JOHN, N.B., Carnegie Library, Hazen Avenue, 1902. The firm of Copeland & Dole from New York City were one of 17 firms from the United States and Canada who submitted plans for this project. The two finalists were Copeland & Dole, and G.E. Fairweather of Saint John (Contract Record [Toronto], xiii, 23 April 1902, 2; 18 June 1902, 1). The scheme by Fairweather was later declared as the winner.
VANCOUVER, B.C., Vancouver Civic Centre, 1914. H. Lewis Copeland of Olympia, Washington was one of 30 architects from the United States and Canada who prepared plans for this major civic project (Contract Record [Toronto], xxix, 6 Jan. 1915, 8, list of competitors). The winner was Theodore Korner of Vancouver, but his proposal was never built.