Pierce & Bickford records

Collection

Identifier: 2299

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COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Correspondence consists of both outgoing (51 letter impression books, 1899-1926) and incoming letters (131 letterboxes, ca. 1892-ca. 1931) to and from clients, contractors, and supply companies in regard to the design and construction of schools, churches, private homes, apartment houses, commercial establishments, hospitals, public buildings, and other structures in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, including the stairs and stone walls at Watkins Glen (1908), the Arnot Art Gallery, the Corning Glass Works, Cortland County and Arnot-Ogden Hospitals, the Elmira College Library, Elmira Y.M.C.A. and Masonic Temple, and the Elmira Free Academy; also, bills, receipts, contracts, indexes (2 volumes) of jobs, and various photographs, blueprints, and detail drawings.

Dates

1890-1960.

Creator

Pierce & Bickford (Firm) (Organization)

Language of Materials

Collection material in English

Biographical / Historical

Started in 1891, Pierce and Bickford was an architectural firm located in Elmira, N.Y. made up of Hiram H. Bickford (1855-1932) and Joseph H. Pierce (1863-1929). Joseph Pierce was the senior partner of the two, having worked as an architect in Elmira since 1880. He had worked with Otis Dockstander from 1883-1890 but the pair dissolved their partnership shortly before Pierce joined with Bickford. Little is known about Bickford before he came to work for Pierce and Dockstander, except that he had worked as a draftsperson at a number of firms in the Northeast. Pierce & Bickford designed hundreds of buildings together - residential, religious, commercial and civic throughout Central New York and nearby Pennsylvania.