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.
A. Moorman and Company collection (N 56), Northwest Architectural Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis.
Albert Moorman was born in Germany in 1860 and emigrated to the U.S. with his family in about 1864, settling in Chicago. He was raised and educated in the public schools in that city. He became an apprentice woodcarver at the age of 12 and worked on the Iowa State Capitol in this capacity a number of years later. In 1905 he started a furniture company in St. Paul, then moved into the design of banking fixtures and interiors. This led his firm to begin designing and building small banks throughout the Midwest, and eventually it became one of the most successful designers of small-town banks in the region. At one time, they held 30% of the business of the Northwestern National Bancorporation of Minneapolis. In 1927, the company was employed to remodel the famous National Farmers Bank of Owatonna, designed by Louis H. Sullivan in 1907-1908. Moorman died in 1927 in St. Paul and the practice was continued by his sons Frank and Al and partners E.A. Tyler and Kindy C. Wright. The firm ceased operations in the late 1970s.
The collection consists of the plans for the First National Bank of Coleraine, Minnesota (1972), typical of the later small-town bank designs of the company.
An unpublished finding aid with detailed contents is available in the Manuscripts Division.
See the Wesley G. Wells papers (N 47) for Kindy Wright buildings.
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.