Holman K. Wheeler
Wheeler was a prolific Massachusetts architect. Wheeler (working alone or with partners) is responsible for designing more than 400 structures in the city of Lynn alone, including the iconic High Rock Tower which is featured prominently on the Lynn city seal. While practicing in Lynn and Boston over a career spanning at least 35 years Wheeler designed structures throughout the Essex County area, including Haverhill, Marblehead, Newburyport, Salem, Swampscott, and Lynn.
Holman K. Wheeler
Fletcher6 · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Name
- Holman King Wheeler
- Birthplace
- Berlin, Massachusetts, US
- Died
- 1859 December 1943
- Place of death
- Newton, Massachusetts, US
- Education
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Born
- 1859 · Lynn.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- architect
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Wheeler was a prolific Massachusetts architect. Wheeler (working alone or with partners) is responsible for designing more than 400 structures in the city of Lynn alone, including the iconic High Rock Tower which is featured prominently on the Lynn city seal. While practicing in Lynn and Boston over a career spanning at least 35 years Wheeler designed structures throughout the Essex County area, including Haverhill, Marblehead, Newburyport, Salem, Swampscott, and Lynn.
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Holman K. Wheeler (1859–1943) was an American architect. Born in Lynn, the architect died in Newton.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 28 September 2026
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In this article
Biography
Biography
Wheeler is responsible for a total of five Lynn structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places, more than any other person or firm.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Holman King Wheeler • Birthplace — Berlin, Massachusetts, US • Died — 1859 December 1943 • Place of death — Newton, Massachusetts, US • Education — Massachusetts Institute of Technology • Practice — * Wheeler & Northend • H. K. Wheeler (independent practice) • Wheeler & Betton • Wheeler & Johnson • Significant Buildings — * High Rock Tower • Lynn G. A. R. Hall • Lynn High School (1892 building) • Tapley Building • Lynn Armory • Illustration — County Courthouse, Salem, 1891. • Illustration — Lynn Armory, Lynn, 1893. • Illustration — High Rock Tower, Lynn, 1904. • Illustration — English High School, Lynn, 1915 addition.
Life
Life
Holman King Wheeler was born October 26, 1859, in Berlin, Massachusetts. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then located in Boston. He graduated in 1882. He had worked in the offices of Lynn architects beginning in 1878, and began working on his own by 1883. In 1884 he formed the firm of Wheeler & Northend in Lynn, with Salem architect W. Wheelwright Northend. Northend resumed his independent practice around 1893, and Wheeler continued alone. In 1904 he established a partnership with Charles L. Betton, Wheeler & Betton. Betton had left by 1914, and Wheeler established Wheeler & Johnson with Leonard P. Johnson. By 1919, Wheeler had left the Lynn area, heading south to Boston. He did at least one project from his office in that city, but had retired to his and his wife's home in Newton by 1920.
Northend
Northend
William Wheelwright Northend was born in 1857 in Salem to later Massachusetts State Senator William Dummer Northend. He was the younger brother to Mary Harrod Northend. Originally intending to practice law, he graduated from Bowdoin College in 1880. Turning to architecture, he worked for Hartwell & Richardson and Cobb & Frost. He then attended M. I. T. for a year before studying in Paris. Prior to establishing a firm with Wheeler, he had opened an office in Salem. After the firm's dissolution, he practiced alone for a year before his death in 1894. He was the architect of Swampscott's Phillips High School, opened in 1894 and demolished c.2018. (Sources disagree on whether Northend or Wheeler was the architect.)
Betton
Betton
Charles Louis Betton was born in 1870, and died in 1934 in Lynn. After leaving Wheeler, Betton established his own office. He designed the Pickering School in 1916 on Conomo Ave, Lynn. He also did extensive industrial work.
Johnson
Johnson
Leonard P. Johnson was a consulting architect for Willett, Sears and Company until January 1, 1914, when he took over the office of George A. Cornet in Lynn after Cornet was elected the city's commissioner of public property. By 1923, he was an architect and construction engineer for the American Woolen Company and had moved to the company's Shawsheen Village. He was also an architect for Coolidge Shepley Bulfinch and Abbott and did residential work in Andover, Massachusetts. He died on March 8, 1967, at the Masonic Home in Charlton, Massachusetts, at the age of 89.
Wheeler & Northend, 1884-1893
Wheeler & Northend, 1884-1893
• 1885 - G. A. R. Hall, 58 Andrew St, Lynn, Massachusetts • Listed on National Register of Historic Places • General Frederick W. Lander (for whom the Lynn G.A.R. Post is named) while attending Governor Dummer Academy began a longtime friendship with William Dummer Northend, father of William Wheelwright Northend • 1885 - Grader Block, 3 Pleasant St, Marblehead, Massachusetts • 1886 - John A. Greenwood House, 158 South Common St, Lynn, Massachusetts • 1887 - Sylvanus P. Gardner House, 1 Windsor St, Haverhill, Massachusetts • 1888 - Central Police Station, 18 Sutton St, Lynn, Massachusetts • Demolished. • 1889 - Lynn Police Department Stables, 28-30 Sutton St, Lynn, Massachusetts • Demolished. • 1889 - Lynn High School (1892 building), 498 Essex St, Lynn, Massachusetts • Listed on National Register of Historic Places • Original building section destroyed by fire on March 29, 1924 • Later the English High School. Now residential units. • 1890 - Myra S. Rowell House, 94 Elmwood Rd, Swampscott, Massachusetts • 1890 - Tapley Building, 206 Broad St, Lynn, Massachusetts • Listed on National Register of Historic Places • Burned in 1999. • 1890 - Heffernan Block, 1-5 Exchange St & 402-404 Union St, Lynn, Massachusetts • Demolished c. 1910 as part of the Lynn Central Square railroad grade separation • 1890 - John S. Earl Building, 9-13 Exchange St & 406-408 Union St, Lynn, Massachusetts • Also referred to as "Earl's Block" • Demolished c. 1910 as part of the Lynn Central Square railroad grade separation • 1891 - Oxford Club, 106 Broad St, Lynn, Massachusetts • Wheeler was a member. The building has been highly altered. • 1891 - Essex County Courthouse (Remodeling), 34 Federal St, Salem, Massachusetts • c.1891 - Lucien [sic] Newhall Block, 25-35 Central Ave and 30-33 Willow St, Lynn, Massachusetts ("Lucien" is a mis-spelling of "Lucian") • Demolished. Former location is now the parking lot at the rear of the "flatiron" building, diagonally opposite the Thomas P. Costin Jr. Post Office Building • 1893 - Lynn Armory, 36 South Common St, Lynn, Massachusetts • Listed on National Register of Historic Places
Holman K. Wheeler, 1893-1904
Holman K. Wheeler, 1893-1904
• 1894 - The Phillips School, Greenwood Avenue, Swampscott, Massachusetts • Sources disagree on whether Northend or Wheeler was the architect. • First High School in Swampscott • Demolished c.2018 • 1895 - Naumkeag Building, 203 Essex St, Salem, Massachusetts • 1895 - Hugh E. Murphy Building, Washington St near Monroe St • 1895 - Proctor Building, 31 Exchange St, Lynn, Massachusetts • 1895 - Edward Heffernan Block, 516-520 Washington Street, Lynn, Massachusetts • Demolished September 2021 • 1897 - Henry B. Falls Apartments, 110-120 Broad St, Lynn, Massachusetts • 1900 - Bacheller School, 35 Lynnfield St, Lynn, Massachusetts • 1900 - Jackman School, School St, Newburyport, Massachusetts • Demolished. • 1901 - Lynn Business College, 112 Exchange St, Lynn, Massachusetts • 1902 - Eugene A. Putnam Apartments, 95 Union St, Lynn, Massachusetts
Wheeler & Betton, 1904-1914
Wheeler & Betton, 1904-1914
• 1904 - High Rock Tower, High Rock Tower Reservation, Lynn, Massachusetts • Listed on National Register of Historic Places • 1904 - Lennox Building, 184-186 Market St, Lynn, Massachusetts • Demolished. • 1904 - Littlefield Building, 604 Essex St, Lynn, Massachusetts • 1909 - Goddard Bros. Store, 76 Market St, Lynn, Massachusetts (currently occupied by Zimman's fabrics store) • 1911 - Brewster Apartments, 26 Broad St, Lynn, Massachusetts • 1912 - Arthur Wellington Pinkham (grandson of Lydia Pinkham) House, 311 Western Ave, Lynn, Massachusetts • Now the Lucia Lighting Company
Wheeler & Johnson, 1914-c.1918
Wheeler & Johnson, 1914-c.1918
• 1915 - English High School (Addition), 498 Essex St, Lynn, Massachusetts • The James Street wing. • 1915 - Littlefield Building, 604 Essex St, Lynn, Massachusetts (addition) • 1917 - A. J. Mulholland Tannery, 14 Proctor St, Salem, Massachusetts
Holman K. Wheeler, c.1918-1919
Holman K. Wheeler, c.1918-1919
• 1919 - Dry Storage Building, Chestnut Street, Amesbury, Massachusetts, for Biddle & Smart Co.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1859
Holman K. Wheeler born at Lynn.
1943
Holman K. Wheeler died at Newton.
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.
Lynn.
Birth place
Newton.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Holman K. Wheeler”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q19975413: Holman K. Wheeler
General reference · Wikidata
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.Albert Gallatin Wheeler. The Genealogical and Encyclopedic History of the Wheeler Family in America. American College of Genealogy. 390. 1914.
- 2.Technology Review Jan. 1920: 80.
- 3.International Publishing Co. Industries of Massachusetts: Historical and Descriptive Review of Lynn, Lowell, Lawrence, Haverhill, Salem, Beverly, Peabody, Danvers, Gloucester, Newburyport, and Amesbury, and their leading Manufacturers and Merchants. 52. 1886.
- 4.American Architect and Building News 2 July 1883: 2.
- 5.Salem City Directory. 1914.
- 6.F. W. Dodge Corporation. The American Contractor, Volume 40. 50. 1919.
- 7.American Contractor 11 Oct. 1919: 50.
- 8.Samuel Atkins Eliot. Biographical history of Massachusetts: biographies and autobiographies of the leading men in the state, Volume 5. Massachusetts biographical society. 1914.
- 9.Biographical Sketches of the Members of the Class of 1880, Bowdoin College. 1890.
- 10.The Essex County Directory for 1884-85. 1884.
- 11.Dempsey/FitzPatrick. Phillips High School. Massachusetts Historical Commission. June 1993.
- 12.Bridgemen's Magazine April 1916: 243.
- 13.North Andover. The Andover Townsman. February 20, 1914.
- 14.Memorial Hall Library. 22 York Street. Andover Historic Preservation.
- 15.Obituaries. The Andover Townsman. March 16, 1967.
- 16.Gary L. Ecelbarger. Frederick W. Lander: The Great Natural American Soldier. LSU Press. 9. 2001. 9780807125809.
- 17."Block Grader, The" mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Web.
- 18."Greenwood, John House" mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Web.
- 19."Gardner, Sylvanus Porter House" mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Web.
- 20.Annual Report of the Auditor of Accounts of the City of Lynn for the Year Ending December 20, 1888. 1889.
- 21.Arthur Krim. Lynn Police Department Stable. Massachusetts Historical Commission. February 1993.
- 22.Annual Report of the Auditor of Accounts of the City of Lynn for the Year Ending December 20, 1889. 1890.
- 23.National Fire Protection Association. Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Volume 17. 1923.
- 24."View of 94 Elmwood Road residence, corner of Monument Avenue, Swampscott, Mass., undated". https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/gusn/196830/. n.d. Web.
- 25."Rowell, Myra S. - Coulhurst, George H. L. House" https://mhc-macris.net/Details?MhcId=SWA.51. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Web.
- 26.Massachusetts Historical Commission. Heffernan Block.
- 27.L. J. Richards & Co. City of Lynn 1897 Atlas. A. 1897.
- 28.L. J. Richards & Co. City of Lynn 1924 Atlas. A. 1924.
- 29.Massachusetts Historical Commission. Earl, John Building.
- 30.Sampson, Murdock, & Company. The Lynn Directory. 1906.
- 31.Briggs & Company. The Essex County Directory. 1891.
- 32.Sampson, Murdock, & Company. The Lynn Directory. 1906.
- 33.Whitten & Cass, Printers. The City Documents: Comprising the Mayor's Address, the Annual Reports. 1891.
- 34.Potter & Potter, Printers. The Oxford Club Souvenir. 48. 1892.
- 35.Tolles, Bryant F. Architecture in Salem: An Illustrated Guide. 1983.
- 36.Shoe and Leather Reporter Company. Shoe and Leather Reporter, Volume 54. 270. 1893.
- 37.Diane Shephard. Lynn in the Victorian Era. Arcadia Publishing. 71. 2002. 9780738511375.
- 38.David Newhall Johnson. Sketches of Lynn, Or, The Changes of Fifty Years. T.P. Nichols, Printer. 478. 1880.
- 39.Public Documents of Massachusetts for the Year 1894. 1895.
- 40.G.H. & A.L. Nichols. Forty-Sixth Annual Report of the Town of Swampscott, Mass. 83. 1898.
- 41.William J. Dowd. In Swampscott, 124-year-old time capsule unearthed. GateHouse News. Aug 9, 2018.
- 42.Building Intelligence. The American Architect and Building News. 48. 155. 4. 1895-05-04.
- 43."Proctor, Thomas E. Building" mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Web.
- 44."Heffernan, Edward Block" https://mhc-macris.net/Details?MhcId=LYN.420 Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Web.
- 45."Two New High-Rise Developments Coming to Downtown Lynn" https://www.ediclynn.org/news/111720.html
- 46."Falls, Henry B. Block" https://mhc-macris.net/Details?MhcId=LYN.620. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Web.
- 47.American Architect and Building News 16 June 1900: xi.
- 48.The New Bacheller School, Lynnfield Street. Daily Evening Item. 1901-01-23.
- 49.City of Newburyport, Mayor's Address and the Annual Reports to the City Council for the Year 1901. 1902.
- 50."Lynn Business College" mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Web.
- 51.American Architect and Building News 12 July 1902: xi.
- 52.Morgan, Kieth N. Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston. 2009.
- 53.Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide 13 Aug. 1904: 376.
- 54.B. R. Pfeiffer. Littlefield, William B. Building. Massachusetts Historical Commission. August 1977.
- 55.B. R. Pfeiffer. Goddard Brothers Department Store. Massachusetts Historical Commission. May 1977.
- 56."Brewster Apartment Building" mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Web.
- 57.Charles Nelson Sinnett. Richard Pinkham of old Dover, New Hampshire and his descendants East and West. Rumford Printing Co. 235. 1908.
- 58.Cecil Munsey. Lydia's Medicine 130 Years Later. 2. 2003.
- 59.American Druggist Publishing Company. American Druggist and Pharmaceutical Record, Volumes 52-53. 296. 1908.
- 60.Massachusetts Historical Commission. Pinkham, Arthur House. July 1977.
- 61.American Contractor 5 June 1915: 69.
- 62.American Contractor 9 Dec. 1916: 21.
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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.
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