Merritt H. Starkweather (1891–1972) was a Tucson, Arizona, architect and civic leader. A native of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, after visiting the Panama-California Exposition (1915), he moved to Tucson and began working in an elegantly simplified Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture. Several of his works are listed for their architecture on the National Register of Historic Places.
Life and work
Starkweather buildings reflect a sophisticated understanding of the Art Deco movement – both the Starweather Home on Adams Street and in El Encanto Estates are examples of Pueblo Deco Style. Perhaps his most significant building is the Arizona Inn: a series of lush courtyards and pink plastered buildings commissioned by Isabella Greenway.
Starkweather was a founder of the Tucson Rodeo. In 1937, he founded the Arizona chapter of the American Institute of Architects and in 1968 was named an AIA Fellow.
He founded the Tucson Blueprint Company before World War I.
Starkweather married Otilia Jettinghoff (Lily) on August 6, 1921 and died in 1972 in Tucson.
Major Tucson buildings
Carrillo School
D.C. Doolen Junior High School
Drachman School
St. John's School
Tucson High School Stadium
Ignacio Bonillas School
Tucson City Shops
Marshall Stores in University Square
City fire stations
Arizona Inn, NRHP-listed
American Legion Club
Frontier Village Buildings
St. Mary's Addition and Sister's Home
St. Joseph Academy
Grandstand and bucking chutes at Tucson's Rodeo Grounds
South Lawn Crematorium
McClellan Stores
Hal Burns Flower Shop
Consumers Market on South 6th Avenue
Myerson's Store Building on Congress and Church
Masonic Temple Addition
M.H. Starkweather stores, 6th and Tucson Blvd. Multiple residences in El Encanto Estates One or more works in Indian House Community Residential Historic District, roughly bounded by 5th St., E. Wash, Kane Estates, and Sahura St. Tucson, AZ, NRHP-listed
Other major projects
Woman's Club, Safford, Arizona, NRHP-listed
School at Pima Arizona
Elk's Lodge, Nogales, Arizona
Amerind Foundation, Dragoon, Arizona – home, servants' quarters, museums. Casa Grande Hospital, 1951
References
Sources
Arizona Historical Society, unpublished biographical sketch. Nequette, Anne M. and Jeffery, R. Brooks. A Guide to Tucson Architecture. University of Arizona Press 2002.