Baumann family (architects)

Joseph F. Baumann

Albert B. Baumann, Sr.

The Baumann family was a family of American architects who practiced in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the surrounding region, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It included Joseph F. Baumann (1844–1920), his brother, Albert B. Baumann, Sr. (1861–1942), and Albert's son, Albert B. Baumann, Jr. (1897–1952). Buildings designed by the Baumanns include the Mall Building (1875), the Church of the Immaculate Conception (1886), Minvilla (1913), the Andrew Johnson Building (1930), and the Knoxville Post Office (1934).

Joseph Baumann, the son of a carpenter, began working as an architect in Knoxville in 1872, when he designed the city's first opera house, Staub's Theatre. In 1887, his brother, Albert, became a full partner in the firm, which then began operating under the name, Baumann Brothers. Joseph left the firm in 1913, and Albert worked alone until 1922, when his son joined the firm, which then changed its name to Baumann and Baumann. The firm continued working under different partners following the death of Albert Baumann, Jr., in 1952. It currently operates as Kaatz Binkley Jones and Morris (KBJM).

The Baumanns have been called Knoxville's first architectural "dynasty." They designed many of the major buildings constructed in the city during the late 19th century. Several of their works, which range from downtown high-rises to suburban cottages, have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

William Baumann, the father of Joseph and Albert Baumann, Sr., was born in Bavaria, and immigrated to America in the 1830s. In 1837, he married Catherine Schneider. The family briefly lived in Savannah, Georgia, where Baumann worked as a shipbuilder. By the 1840s, the family had moved to East Tennessee, where Baumann found ample work as a carpenter and house builder in various growing towns around the region. The Baumanns moved to Knoxville in 1855.

During the Civil War, the Baumann house, located on what was then the outskirts of town, was occupied by both Union and Confederate soldiers, and suffered considerable damage. Some of the Baumann children were sent to Charleston, Tennessee, to stay with family friends, while remaining family members hid out in the Second Presbyterian Church. After the war, Baumann and his sons continued working as carpenters, and helped to rebuild Knoxville.

...
Wikipedia