Milburn, Heister, and Company (1909-1934)
Residences:
- Washington, D.C.
- Durham, North Carolina
Trades:
- Architect
Building Types:
Styles & Forms:
Beaux-Arts; Colonial Revival; Gothic Revival; Romanesque Revival; Skyscraper
The prolific firm of Milburn, Heister, and Company consisted of founder Frank Pierce Milburn, Michael Heister, and Milburn’s son Thomas Yancey Milburn. It was established in 1909, when architect Frank Pierce Milburn formed a partnership with Michael Heister, a young designer who had headed Milburn’s drafting department since 1903. The partnership became one of the most successful architectural firms in Washington, D.C. Milburn took his son Thomas to work in the firm’s Durham office. After Frank retired from the firm in 1925 and died in 1926, the firm continued with Michael Heister and Thomas Yancey Milburn until 1934. Heister died at the age of 77 in 1948, in Washington, D.C. The younger Milburn subsequently practiced on his own and died in 1977. For the firm’s activities and projects, see Frank Pierce Milburn.
Milburn and Heister were quick to gain licenses to practice architecture in North Carolina promptly after the passage of the licensing act of 1915. Heister’s license certificate of 1915 was #2 and Milburn’s was #3 in the official registration book of the North Carolina Board of Architecture.
Alexander Motor Company Building
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architectDates:1923
Location:Durham, Durham CountyStreet Address:330 E. Main St., Durham, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Commercial
Images Published In:Claudia P. Roberts (Brown) and Diane E. Lea, The Durham Architectural and Historic Inventory (1982).
Battle-Vance-Pettigrew Dormitory
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architectDates:1912
Location:Chapel Hill, Orange CountyStreet Address:University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Educational
Images Published In:John V. Allcott, The Campus at Chapel Hill: Two Hundred Years of Architecture (1986).
M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1795-1975 (2006).Note:Thomas Wolfe roomed here while he was a student at the university.
Buncombe County Courthouse
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architect (1927)Dates:1927
Location:Asheville, Buncombe CountyStreet Address:60 Court Square, Asheville, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Public
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir, Michael T. Southern, and Jennifer F. Martin, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Western North Carolina (1999).
Dillard House
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architectDates:1917
Location:Durham, Durham CountyStreet Address:1311 N. Mangum St., Durham, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Claudia P. Roberts (Brown) and Diane E. Lea, The Durham Architectural and Historic Inventory (1982).
Durham Auditorium
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architectVariant Name(s):Carolina Theatre
Dates:1926
Location:Durham, Durham CountyStreet Address:211 Roney St., Durham, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Commercial
Images Published In:Claudia P. Roberts (Brown) and Diane E. Lea, The Durham Architectural and Historic Inventory (1982).
Durham City Hall
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architectDates:1904; 1926 [remodeled]
Location:Durham, Durham CountyStreet Address:120 Morris St., Durham, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Public
Images Published In:Claudia P. Roberts (Brown) and Diane E. Lea, The Durham Architectural and Historic Inventory (1982).
Note:The building was erected as a high school in 1904 and remodeled as the city hall in 1926.
Durham County Courthouse
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architectDates:1916
Location:Durham, Durham CountyStreet Address:208 E. Main St., Durham, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Public
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina (2003).
Claudia P. Roberts (Brown) and Diane E. Lea, The Durham Architectural and Historic Inventory (1982).
Daniel J. Vivian, “‘A Practical Architect’: Frank P. Milburn and the Transformation of Architectural Practice in the New South, 1890-1925,” Winterthur Portfolio (Spring 2005).
Durham High School
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architectDates:1930
Location:Durham, Durham CountyStreet Address:N. Duke St., Durham, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Educational
Images Published In:Claudia P. Roberts (Brown) and Diane E. Lea, The Durham Architectural and Historic Inventory (1982).
Elizabeth City High School
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Lord Byron Perry, contractor; Michael Heister, architectDates:1921
Location:Elizabeth City, Pasquotank CountyStreet Address:306 N. Road St., Elizabeth City, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Educational
Images Published In:Thomas R. Butchko, On the Shores of the Pasquotank: The Architectural Heritage of Elizabeth City and Pasquotank County, North Carolina (1989).
First National Bank of Henderson
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architectDates:1921
Location:Henderson, Vance CountyStreet Address:213-215 S. Garnett St., Henderson, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Commercial
Images Published In:Ann Melanie Murphy, An Inventory of Historic Architecture, Henderson, North Carolina (1979).
First Presbyterian Church
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architectDates:1916
Location:Durham, Durham CountyStreet Address:305 E. Main St., Durham, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Religious
Images Published In:Claudia P. Roberts (Brown) and Diane E. Lea, The Durham Architectural and Historic Inventory (1982).
Gaston County Courthouse
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architectDates:1911
Location:Gastonia, Gaston CountyStreet Address:151 South St., Gastonia, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Public
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina (2003).
Hoke County Courthouse
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architectDates:1911
Location:Raeford, Hoke CountyStreet Address:Main St. and Edenborough St., Raeford, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Public
Independence Building
Contributors:J. A. Jones, builder (1908-1909); Frank Pierce Milburn, architect (1908-1909); Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects (1908-1909); William Lee Stoddart, architect (1927-1928); Michael Heister, architect (1908-1909)Variant Name(s):Realty Building
Dates:1908-1909; 1927-1928 [addition]
Location:Charlotte, Mecklenburg CountyStreet Address:100-102 W. Trade St., Charlotte, NC
Status:No longer standing
Type:Commercial
Images Published In:Mary Norton Kratt and Mary Manning Boyer, Remembering Charlotte: Postcards from a New South City, 1905-1950 (2000).
Daniel J. Vivian, “‘A Practical Architect’: Frank P. Milburn and the Transformation of Architectural Practice in the New South, 1890-1925,” Winterthur Portfolio (Spring 2005).Note:The 12-story skyscraper was the first steel-framed skyscraper in North Carolina and an icon of Charlotte’s urban ambitions. Originally known as the Realty Building, it was renamed in 1922 for the Independence Bank that occupied it. In 1928, New York architect William Lee Stoddart added two more stories. It was imploded in 1981 amid strong controversy.
King's Daughters Home
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architectDates:1925
Location:Durham, Durham CountyStreet Address:204 N. Buchanan Blvd., Durham, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Claudia P. Roberts (Brown) and Diane E. Lea, The Durham Architectural and Historic Inventory (1982).
Lincoln Hospital
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Hesiter, architectDates:1924
Location:Durham, Durham CountyStreet Address:1301 Fayetteville St., Durham, NC
Status:No longer standing
Type:Health Care
Images Published In:Claudia P. Roberts (Brown) and Diane E. Lea, The Durham Architectural and Historic Inventory (1982).
McPherson Hospital
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architectDates:1926
Location:Durham, Durham CountyStreet Address:1110 W. Main St., Durham, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Health Care
Images Published In:Claudia P. Roberts (Brown) and Diane E. Lea, The Durham Architectural and Historic Inventory (1982).
Pitt County Courthouse
Contributors:William Carter Bain, contractor; Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architectDates:1910-1911
Location:Greenville, Pitt CountyStreet Address:Greenville, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Public
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir, North Carolina Architecture (1990).
Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina (1996).
Scott Power, The Historical Architecture of Pitt County, North Carolina (1991).
Professional Building
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; John E. Beaman, contractor; Michael Heister, architectDates:1925
Location:Raleigh, Wake CountyStreet Address:209 S. McDowell St., Raleigh, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Commercial
Images Published In:Linda L. Harris and Mary Ann Lee, An Architectural and Historical Inventory of Raleigh, North Carolina (1978).
Note:The 8-story building is one of the modest 1920s skyscrapers that redefined downtown Raleigh’s skyline. It was commissioned by William Allen Erwin (1856-1932), a relative of the Alamance County Holt manufacturing family who worked with the Duke family in their entry into the textile industry and became an industry leader himself. It was built in part as a philanthropic investment, for the some of the proceeds from rentals to physicians, dentists, and various corporations were diverted into a trust that benefited the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, which Erwin had built and given to the Episcopal Diocese (see Hobart Upjohn). The gala opening of the building was in December, 1925. The architects and the contractor were identified in the December 19, 1925, News and Observer.
Rocky Mount National Bank
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architect; D.J. Rose, contractorDates:Ca. 1918
Location:Rocky Mount, Edgecombe CountyStreet Address:101 Southeast Main St., Rocky Mount, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Commercial
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina (1996).
Rocky Mount Savings Bank
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architectDates:1926
Location:Rocky Mount, Nash CountyStreet Address:142 SW Main St., Rocky Mount, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Commercial
Third National Bank
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; Michael Heister, architectDates:1923
Location:Gastonia, Gaston CountyStreet Address:195 W. Main St., Gastonia, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Commercial
Vance County Courthouse
Contributors:W. R. Kivett, contractor (1884); Frank Pierce Milburn, architect (1908); Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects (1908); James R. Thrower, architect and builder (1884); Michael Heister, architectDates:1884; 1908 [remodeled]
Location:Henderson, Vance CountyStreet Address:Young St., Henderson, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Public
Images Published In:Ann Melanie Murphy, An Inventory of Historic Architecture, Henderson, North Carolina (1979).
Note:This project was a thorough remodeling of the 1884 courthouse, including a completely new façade.
Wachovia Bank and Trust Company Building
Contributors:William Carter Bain, contractor; Central Carolina Construction Company, contractors; Frank Pierce Milburn, architect (1911, 1917-1918); Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects (1911, 1917-1918); Michael Heister, architect (1911, 1917-1918)Variant Name(s):Wachovia National Bank Building
Dates:1911; 1917-1918 [addition and renovation]
Location:Winston-Salem, Forsyth CountyStreet Address:8 West 3rd St., Winston-Salem, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Commercial
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina (2003).
Edwin E. Bouldin, Jr., Architectural Guide to Winston-Salem and Forsyth County (1978).
Molly Grogan Rawls, Winston-Salem in Vintage Postcards (2004).Note:Wachovia, a banking company that originated in Winston-Salem, began the cit’s early 20th century “race to the sky” with Milburn and Heister’s 7-story steel-framed skyscraper. After the O’Hanlon Building (see Northup and O’Brien) was built to 8 stories in 1914, Wachovia had Milburn and Heister add another story to their edifice. Both were soon eclipsed by taller buildings.
Wayne County Courthouse
Contributors:Frank Pierce Milburn, architect; Milburn, Heister, and Company, architects; William P. Rose, contractor; Michael Heister, architectDates:1913
Location:Goldsboro, Wayne CountyStreet Address:224 E. Walnut St., Goldsboro, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Public
Images Published In:J. Daniel Pezzoni and Penne Smith, Glimpses of Wayne County, North Carolina: An Architectural History (1998).
Daniel J. Vivian, “‘A Practical Architect’: Frank P. Milburn and the Transformation of Architectural Practice in the New South, 1890-1925,” Winterthur Portfolio (Spring 2005).Note:The courthouse was described as Rose’s work in his interview with the Goldsboro News-Argus, March 1, 1951.