Buechner Orth papers

The firm of Buechner & Orth was formed in 1902 by the partnership of Charles Buechner and Henry Orth. Buechner was born in Darmstadt, Germany, on April 27, 1859. He was educated in Switzerland, France, and Germany, ending his training at Solothurn, Switzerland. He came to St. Paul in 1874 and became a surveyor with the St. Paul, Minneapolis, & Manitoba Railway and later with the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. In the latter he was employed in the Tracks, Bridges, and Buildings Department until 1883. He worked and studied architecture in the office of Clarence H. Johnston, a prominent St. Paul architect, until 1892, when he entered into a partnership with John H. Jacobsen, which was terminated with the latter's death in 1902. Buechner then became a partner of Henry Orth until his own death in St. Paul in 1924.

Henry Orth was born in Norway on April 14, 1866. He came to the U.S. at an unknown date and was educated in a business college (location unknown). He became a partner of Frank W. Kinney in Austin, Minnesota in 1895, and in 1902 joined Charles Buechner in partnership in St. Paul. The firm specialized in designing courthouses and theaters throughout the Midwest and was one of the most successful architectural practices of its day in the area. Orth died in St. Paul on March 5, 1946.