Available for use in the Manuscripts Division reading room. Advance notice is requested.
There are no restrictions on the use of materials in this collection. Copies can be requested if the condition of the originals warrants it.
Reed and Stem papers (N 16), Northwest Architectural Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis.
The collection is arranged alphabetically by commission name.
Charles Reed was born near Scarsdale, New York in 1858 and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in architecture. He subsequently worked as a railroad architect for a number of lines, including the Chicago Great Western, Northern Pacific, Norfolk & Western, New Haven, New York Central and Michigan Central. He joined Allen Stem in practice in 1891 to form one of the most successful architectural firms in St. Paul. In 1901, Reed went to New York City to supervise design work on Grand Central Station after his firm won the commission for this project and became an executive architect with their associates, Warren & Wetmore. He died of a heart attack in New York on November 11, 1911.
Allen Stem was born in Van Wert, Ohio on January 28, 1856. He was educated at the Indianapolis Art School and practiced from 1876 to 1884 with his father, J.H. Stem, in the same city. He then joined Edgar J. Hodgson in partnership in St. Paul in 1884, a practice which lasted until Stem formed his partnership with Reed in 1891. After Reed's death, Stem continued his practice with Roy H. Haslund until his retirement in 1920. Stem died in St. Paul on May 19, 1931.
The firm of Reed & Stem prospered because of its ability to capture large commissions and because of Reed's relationship by marriage with a vice-president of the New York Central Railroad. Through this connection, they received the commission for Grand Central Station in New York City and numerous other stations and structures for that railroad company, including the NYCRR Power Station, Port Morris, New York, and the Union Station at Troy, New York (1892). They were also responsible for the designs of the Detroit (Michigan) Union Station and depots for the Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railroads at Devils Lake and Bismarck, North Dakota, respectively.
Non-railroad related buildings constructed by Reed & Stem include the Lewis & Clark County Court House, Helena, Montana; the West Publishing Company building, Eagan, Minnesota; Civic Auditorium, Hotel St. Paul, St. Paul Athletic Club, and the Reed and Stem double residence, all located in St. Paul; the Denver (Colorado) Auditorium; Wulling Hall, University of Minnesota (Minneapolis); and the White Bear Lake Yacht Club (1913), White Bear Lake, Minnesota.
The collection consists of two watercolor renderings, measuring 25" x 30", of Mrs. Keeley's residence (location and date unknown) plans of the Armstrong store and music theatre building (ca. 1895); and the Mannheimer Department Store (1914), both of the latter in St. Paul, along with plans for the St. Paul Municipal Auditorium (1906, 1921, 1931).
An unpublished finding aid with detailed contents is available in the Manuscripts Division.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
The following section contains a detailed list of the materials in the collection.
Commercial building,
no date
St. Paul, MN
Reed and Stem, Architects
ink on linen
Residence,
1909-1910
St. Paul, MN
Reed and Stem, Architects
photocopies
Residence,
(Two versions)
no location
Reed and Stem, Architects
watercolor
Commercial building,
St. Paul, MN
A. H. Stem, Architects
blueprint
Public auditorium,
Interior perspective of stage; 2 versions
St. Paul, MN
Reed and Stem, Architects
pencil and watercolor (gouache?) on board
Public auditorium,
working drawings
St. Paul, MN
Reed and Stem; Bassford and Ellerbe, Architects
ink on linen, pencil on vellum