WIRTH, Carl (1855-1928), a successful architect in Duluth, Minnesota and in the nearby city of Superior, Wisconsin, who appears to be the son of George Wirth, another well-known architect in Duluth (see biography of George Wirth in Alan Lathrop, Minnesota Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 2010, 229). Carl Wirth was born in the State of Bavaria, Germany in 1855 and was said to have been a graduate of the Academy of Design in that country. His family emigrated to the United States in 1872, and he arrived in Superior, Wisc. in 1880, but by 1883 he had relocated to Bismark, North Dakota to represent his father for the commission to design the new Public School there (Bismark Weekly Tribune, 10 Aug. 1883, 3). Wirth continued to live and work in Bismark as an architect for the next four years, and formed a partnership with Hermann Kretz. Their best-know work was the Lamborn Hotel, 1884, designed in "...a style of modern Gothic with Queen Anne features".
By April 1887 he had returned to Superior, Wisc. and opened an office there under his own name in 1887. After 1900 he established a branch office in the Thunder Bay region of northern Ontario in an attempt to capitalise on the pre-war building boom in the twin cities of Port Arthur and Fort William. He had extensive experience in the design of public buildings and commercial structures in Superior, Wisconsin including an eccentric but highly picturesque Moorish design for the Grand Opera House (1889; burned 1939), a major addition to the West Superior Hotel (1891; burned 1940), the Hammond Block (1890), the Roosevelt Terrace Apartments (1890) and the classically inspired Superior Public Library (1901). At the Lakehead in Ontario, his best known design was that of the Fort William Grain Exchange Block, one of the largest commercial buildings erected in the city at the time. Wirth left Ontario in August 1914 and moved back to Superior, and later opened another office in nearby Duluth, Minn. Wirth died in Duluth on 19 November 1928 (obit. Duluth Herald, 19 Nov. 1928, 1; inf. from Dr. Paul Gaboriault, Superior, Wisc.)
(works in North Dakota)
BISMARK, N.D., public school, 1883 (Bismark Weekly Tribune, 10 Aug. 1883, 3, t.c.)
BISMARK, N.D., Lamborn Hotel, Main Street at Sixth Street, 1884; demol. c. 1972 (Bismark Weekly Tribune, 13 June 1884, 8, extensive descrip.)
BISMARK, N.D., Griffin Block, Fourth Street, 1884 (Bismark Weekly Tribune, 13 June 1884, 8, descrip.)
BISMARK, N.D., extensive alterations and improvements to the Episcopal Church, 1885 (Bismark Weekly Tribune, 5 June 1885, 8, descrip.)
(works in Wisconsin)
SUPERIOR, WISC., office block costing $25,000, for the Land & River Improvement Co., perhaps the same block now called The New Jersey Block, Tower Avenue at Belknap Avenue, 1887 (Minneapolis Tribune, 5 Oct. 1887, 9, list of works by Carl Wirth)
SUPERIOR, WISC., hotel for an unnamed client, Hammond Avenue at Winter Street, 1887 (Minneapolis Tribune, 5 Oct. 1887, 9, list of works by Carl Wirth)
SUPERIOR, WISC., an 8 room public school, 1887 (Minneapolis Tribune, 5 Oct. 1887, 9, list of works by Carl Wirth)
SUPERIOR, WISC., a public school at Connor's Point, 1887 (Minneapolis Tribune, 5 Oct. 1887, 9, list of works by Carl Wirth)
SUPERIOR, WISC., Presbyterian Church, 1887 (Minneapolis Tribune, 5 Oct. 1887, 9, list of works by Carl Wirth)
SUPERIOR, WISC., Congregational Church, 1887 (Minneapolis Tribune, 5 Oct. 1887, 9, list of works by Carl Wirth)
SUPERIOR, WISC., Roman Catholic Church, 1887 (Minneapolis Tribune, 5 Oct. 1887, 9, list of works by Carl Wirth)
SUPERIOR, WISC., South End Public School, 1891 (Superior Times, 26 Sept. 1891, 3)
SUPERIOR, WISC., Roosevelt Terrace, a row of seven townhouses for James Roosevelt, Sr., North 21st Street at Ogden Avenue, 1890 (Superior Telegram, 9 Sept. 1891, 5, descrip.; United States, National Register of Historic Places - Wisconsin, 2005)
SUPERIOR, WISC., Empire Block, Tower Avenue at North 12th Street, 1892 (USA, National Register of Historic Places, listed 27 June 1985)
SUPERIOR, WISC., Weymyss Block, Tower Avenue at North 13th Street, 1892 (USA, National Register of Historic Places, listed 27 June 1985)
SOUTH SUPERIOR, WISC., public school, 1896 (Superior Times, 9 May 1896, 3)
WEST SUPERIOR, WISC., Carnegie Library, 1901 (Minneapolis Journal, 24 Aug. 1901, 20, illus. & descrip.)
(works in Fort William, Ontario unless noted)
FRANCIS BLOCK, May Street at Victoria Avenue, for James Murphy, 1910-11 (Daily Times-Journal [Fort William], 26 May 1910, 3, descrip.; 1 June 1911, 7, illus. & descrip.)
EXHIBITION GROUNDS, pavilion for the West Algoma Agricultural Asssociation, 1910; grandstand, 1911 (C.R., xxiv, 17 Aug. 1910, 25, t.c.; xxv, 26 July 1911, 59, t.c.)
THEATRE, for William J. Ross, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 15 March 1911, 54)
PORT ARTHUR, ONT., warehouse for Riley-Ramsay Co. Ltd., Water Street, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 17 May 1911, 61)
TRADER'S BANK, Victoria Avenue, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 26 July 1911, 66)
UNION BANK, Victoria Avenue, 1912 (Fort William b.p. 266, 16 July 1912)
MARKS STREET SOUTH, at Ridgeway Street, residence for Dr. Thomas E. Dean, 1912 (Fort William b.p. 297, 5 Aug. 1912)
MERCHANT'S BANK, Victoria Avenue at Brodie Street, 1913 (C.R., xxvii, 21 May 1913, 69)
(with Carson & Smithley) FORT WILLIAM GRAIN EXCHANGE, Syndicate Avenue North at Victoria Avenue, 1913 (Daily Times-Journal [Fort William], 3 Jan. 1913, 13, t.c.; C.R., xxvii, 18 June 1913, 70)
COMPETITIONS
SUPERIOR, WISC., U.S. Government Court House, Custom House & Post Office, Tower Avenue at North 14th Street, 1903. Wirth was one of ten prominent architects from the United States who were invited by James Knox Taylor, Supervising Architect in Washington, to submit a design for this major public building (Superior Times, 20 June 1903, 3, list of competitors). The winner was the local Superior office of Barber & Barber, Architects, formerly of Winnipeg.