Frank Irving Cooper
Frank Irving Cooper (May 8, 1867 – October 23, 1933) was an American architect from Massachusetts who designed many public buildings during his career, including the Bristol County Superior Courthouse in Taunton, Massachusetts, and dozens of school buildings throughout New England. Throughout his career, Cooper established himself as an expert on improved school design and planning, serving on various committees, and authoring numerous books and papers on the subject.
Frank Irving Cooper

Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger) · Public domain
- Name
- Frank Irving Cooper
- Born
- 8 May 1867
- Birthplace
- Taunton, Massachusetts
- Died
- 23 October 1933
- Place of death
- Wayland, Massachusetts
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- architect
- Known for
- Bristol County Courthouse Complex
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Frank Irving Cooper (May 8, 1867 – October 23, 1933) was an American architect from Massachusetts who designed many public buildings during his career, including the Bristol County Superior Courthouse in Taunton, Massachusetts, and dozens of school buildings throughout New England. Throughout his career, Cooper established himself as an expert on improved school design and planning, serving on various committees, and authoring numerous books and papers on the subject.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Frank Irving Cooper (1867–1933) was an American architect. Born in Taunton, the architect died in Wayland. Frank Irving Cooper was a member of Cooper & Bailey. Works include Bristol County Courthouse Complex.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Frank Irving Cooper. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q15378782 · wikipedia · Frank Irving Cooper
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Frank Irving Cooper • Born — 8 May 1867 • Birthplace — Taunton, Massachusetts • Died — 23 October 1933 • Place of death — Wayland, Massachusetts • Significant Buildings — Bristol County Superior Courthouse Coughlin School Osborn Street School
Biography and career
Biography and career
Frank Irving Cooper was the only son of Joseph John Cooper and Mary A. Nichols, of Taunton, Massachusetts. His father was a skilled tack maker who earned the rank of Major during the Civil War. Cooper studied architecture and engineering and began his career as a draftsman for H.H. Richardson which became Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge after Richardson's death in 1886. Among his early roles was as supervising architect for the construction of the Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh, and later Shadyside Presbyterian Church, in that same city. Soon after the completion of Shadyside Presbyterian, Cooper established his own firm with offices in Boston and Pittsburgh In 1890, he married Anna Wellington Sawyer of Bridgewater, Massachusetts. They had three sons and settled in Wayland, Massachusetts Cooper later partnered with Elmer Smith Bailey, forming the firm of Cooper & Bailey, with an office at 33 Cornhill in Boston. From their Boston office, the focused their work almost entirely on the design of new schools throughout New England. Their works during this period include the 1907 Winslow School in Beverly, Massachusetts, and the 1911 Atherton Hough School in Quincy, Massachusetts. In 1916, the firm was reorganized as Frank Irving Cooper Corporation, after Bailey had retired in 1914. After his death in 1933, Frank Irving Cooper Corporation continued designing schools under the leadership of his son Gregory.
Gallery of selected works
Gallery of selected works
• Illustration — Coughlin School, 1893, Fall River, Massachusetts • Illustration — Osborn Street School, 1893, Fall River, Massachusetts • Illustration — Bristol County Superior Courthouse, 1894, Taunton, Massachusetts • Illustration — Clark Hall, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1907 (Cooper & Bailey) • Illustration — Rockland High School (1909) (Cooper & Bailey)
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself.

Coughlin School, Fall River, Massachusetts
Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)

Historic Rockland High School, Rockland Massachusetts
John Phelan
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Taunton.
Birth place
Wayland.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q15378782: Frank Irving Cooper
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Frank Irving Cooper”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.American Elite and Sociologist Bluebook
- 2.Collections of the Old Colony Historical Society, Issues 6-8
- 3.Supervising Architect.
- 4.The American elite and sociologist blue book, progressive Americans, prominent in the social, industrial and financial world
- 5.Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey.
- 6.The American School Board Journal, Volume 52
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q15378782: Frank Irving CooperWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Design
11,558 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Frank FurnessDesigner
- Frank Gibson CostelloDesigner
- Frank HarmonDesigner
- Frank HarteDesigner
- Frank J. ForsterDesigner
- Frank L. MelineDesigner
- Frank Lloyd WrightDesigner
- Frank LockwoodDesigner
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Frank Irving Cooper?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.