In 1888 and 1889, Palmer worked for architect
Frederick Clarke Withers as a general superintendent for the construction of the
Chapel of the Good Shepherd and other structures on
Blackwell Island. However, Palmer would form and reorganize his own partnerships throughout his career. However, he left to attend the
École des Beaux-Arts in
France after two years. It is also an architecturally significant building in the
Broadway-Riverside Drive Historic District. In 1901, Palmer & Hornbostel designed new buildings for the
Steinway & Sons factory. In 1904, Palmer won a competition held by the Committee of
Carnegie Technical Schools (later
Carnegie Mellon University) to design its campus. Because of the hilly nature of the proposed campus, Palmer said:It was not the exterior of the buildings that we found the hard task, but in the arranging of the area for the various buildings, so as to obtain the best results. We have mapped out the general ground plan for the buildings, according to the floor area required. They designed the
Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum in
Pittsburgh in 1906. In 1909, the firm was hired to design the campus of the
University of Pittsburgh. The latter was designed in collaboration with the architect
Edward Brown Lee who was employed by the firm. When it was built, it was the first high-rise government office building in the United States. The
Beaux Arts style Oakland City Hall is now listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. With the outbreak of
World War I, Jones left to become the supervising architect for the
Naval Operating Base in
Norfolk, Virginia.
Return of Palmer & Hornbostel ) When Jones left the firm, its name reverted to Palmer & Hornbostel. This project was dubbed the "million dollar bridge" when it exceeded pre-bid estimates of $400,000 ($ in today's money). The bridge is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places as the
Robert H. Mollohan-Jefferson Street Bridge. Plonsky had been an unnamed partner in both Palmer, Hornbostel and Jones and Palmer & Hornbostel, working there by the mid-1910s. Palmer remained with this firm until his death. == Projects ==