Joseph Finger (7 March 1887 – 6 February 1953) was an Austrian American architect. After immigrating to the United States in 1905, Finger settled in Houston, Texas in 1908, where he would remain for the duration of his life. Finger is best remembered for his role in bringing modern architecture to Texas.
Early years Joseph Finger was born 7 March 1887 in Bielitz, Austria-Hungary to Henri Finger (1862-1941) and Hani Seifter (1870-1947). After finishing high school and technical training, he moved to the United States in 1905.
Career Finger settled first in New Orleans in 1905, then moved to Houston, Texas in three years later. He found employment with C. D. Hill & Company, an architecture firm based in Dallas, where he worked for about five years.
Finger joined a series of architecture partnerships, starting with Green & Finger in 1913. At that firm, he designed the DeGeorge Hotel, located at the corner of Preston and Labranch. His second partnership was with Lamar Q. Cato (Finger & Cato). After 1922, he worked independently. By the late 1920s, he established a robust business for hotel design, completing three hotels outside Houston, and the Auditorium Hotel, the Ben Milam Hotel, the Plaza Hotel, and the Texas State Hotel, all in Houston. Many of these hotels catered to wealthy residents with modern amenities such as air conditioning and running ide-water. All of these Houston hotels were still standing through the first part of 2012, when the Auditorium and Texas State still operated as hotels, the DeGeorge was used as a hotel for veterans, and the Plaza as a bank. By the end of 2012, however, the Ben Milam was taken down.
While conservative style marked Finger's luxury hotels, some of his other buildings reflected Art Deco style. In 1925, he designed the Temple Beth Israel, more recently repurposed as a theater building for Houston Community College. His 1929 building, the Houston Turn-Verein Clubhouse, employed some Austrian-inspired "zig-zag" Art Deco elements. Meanwhile he was the architect of over two dozen Art Deco grocery stores for the Weingarten chain.
Though Finger established a practice of commercial architecture, he also designed many single-family residences, especially in the Riverside Terrace neighborhood in Houston. One of these was for Abe Weingarten. Jesse H. Jones contracted for his services for a mixed-use building to house the Houston Chamber of Commerce with a store front for Levy Brothers' Dry Goods, a collaboration with Alfred C. Finn. This design team later produced Jefferson Davis Hospital, which occupied a site more recently occupied by the Federal Reserve Building.
From 1944 until his death in 1953, Finger worked in a partnership with George W. Rustay.
Finger designed the 1939 Houston City Hall, designed in a stripped classical style. In response to criticism from Houston mayor R. H. Fonville, who wanted a style with more classical reference, Finger said, "Here in America we are rapidly developing our own type of architecture which is far above that of foreign countries. We are building for the masses, not the classes." Above the lobby entrance of the City Hall is a stone relief of two men taming a wild horse, symbolizing a community coming together to form a government to tame the world around them. This sculpture, and the twenty-seven other friezes around the building, were carved by Beaumont artist Herring Coe and co-designer Raoul Josset.Bradley (2020), pp. 149−150.
Personal life On June 18, 1913, Finger married Gertrude Levy (1891-1985), a Houston native. The couple had one son, Joseph Seifter Finger (1918-2003), who also practiced architecture.
In Houston, Finger was a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Houston Chamber of Commerce, Houston Turn-Verein, B'nai B'rith, and the Westwood Country Club.
Death and legacy On 6 February 1953, a month short of his 66th birthday, Finger died in Houston. He is buried in Beth Israel Mausoleum in Beth Israel Cemetery.
Works NameCityAddressYearStatusArchitectsPanama HotelBeasley and Fox (1996), p. 29.Galveston, Texas202 Rosenberg Street1912Green and FingerAmerican National Insurance CompanyGalveston, Texas1913DemolishedModel LaundryBeasley and Fox (1996), pp. 49−50.Galveston, Texas513 25th Street1913Green and FingerDe George HotelHouston, Texas1418 Preston Street1913Concordia ClubHouston, Texas1915DemolishedSterne BuildingHouston, Texas300 Main Street1916Cheek-Neal Coffee CompanyHouston, Texas2017 Preston Street1917Keystone BuildingHouston, Texas1120 Texas Avenue1922Tennison HotelHouston, Texas110 Bagby Street1922Ricou-Brewster BuildingShreveport, Louisiana421 Milam Street1924Demolishedwith Seymour Van OsTemple Beth IsraelHouston, Texas3517 Austin Street1924Now Heinen TheatreTexas Packing CompanyHouston, Texas1924William Penn HotelHouston, Texas1423 Texas Avenue1925Demolished 2006Citizens State BankHouston, Texas3620 Washington Avenue1925Now Rockefeller HallAuditorium HotelHouston, Texas701 Texas Avenue1926Now Lancaster HotelWade Irvin HouseLa Porte, Texas431 Bayridge Road1927Vaughn HotelPort Arthur, Texas600 Proctor Street1929Charleston HotelLake Charles, Louisiana900 South Ryan Street1929Joseph Finger HouseHouston, Texas2221 Rosedale Avenue1929A. C. Burton Company Auto ShowroomHouston, Texas1400 Main Street1929DemolishedTexas State HotelHouston, Texas720 Fannin Street1929Now Club Quarters HotelHouston Turn-Verein ClubhouseHouston, Texas5202 Almeda Road1929Demolished 1993James West HouseHouston, Texas3303 East NASA Parkway1929Plaza HotelHouston, Texas5020 Montrose Boulevard1929McCartney HotelTexarkana, Texas100 Front Street1930AbandonedWolff Memorial HomeHouston, Texas1930DemolishedSimon and Mamie Minchen HouseHouston, Texas1753 North Boulevard1931Thomas Monroe HouseHouston, Texas1624 Kirby Drive1931Davis HouseHouston, Texas2330 North Braeswood Boulevard1933Barker Brothers StudioHouston, Texas4912 Main Street1931Henry Tennison HouseHouston, Texas427 Lovett Boulevard1932Now owned by Alliance FrançaiseByrd's Department StoreHouston, Texas420 Main Street1934Beth Israel MausoleumHouston, Texas1207 West Dallas Street1935Montgomery County CourthouseConroe, Texas301 North Main Street1935Jefferson Davis HospitalHouston, Texas1801 Allen Parkway1936Demolished 1999with Alfred C. FinnBen Milam HotelHouston, Texas1521 Texas Avenue1936Demolished 2012Clarke and Courts Printing PlantHouston, Texas1210 West Clay Street1936Now Tribeca LoftsJohn Platt HouseHouston, Texas3311 Del Monte Drive1936Joseph Weingarten HouseBradley (2020), p. 135Houston, Texas4000 South MacGregor Way1937Currently undergoing full restorationTower Community CentreHouston, Texas1003 Westheimer Road1937Abe Weingarten HouseHouston, Texas3612 Parkwood Drive1938Wesley West HouseHouston, TexasRiverside Drive and Live Oak Street1938Demolished 1963Houston City HallBradley (2020), p. 149.Houston, Texas901 Bagby Street1939Parker Brothers and CompanyHouston, Texas5305 Navigation Boulevard1939Houston Municipal Airport TerminalBradley (2020), pp. 155−156.Houston, Texas8325 Travelair Street1939Operating as museumAbe Battelstein HouseHouston, Texas3615 Parkwood Drive1940Carnation Company CreameryHouston, Texas701 Waugh Drive1946DemolishedBeth Yeshurun SynagogueHouston, Texas3501 Southmore Avenue1949Now Lucian L. Lockhart Elementary SchoolSol Weingarten Family HomeHouston, Texas3222 Oakmont Drive1949Abandoned; restoration in processBattelstein BuildingHouston, Texas812 Main Street1950George Rustay, junior partner1952 Harris County CourthouseHouston, Texas1200 Congress Street1953Remodeled in 2006 and became the Harris County Juvenile Justice CenterFinger and Rustay; completed after Finger's deathRemodel of the 1910 Harris County CourthouseHouston, Texas301 Fannin Street1956Restoration to the original style began in March 2009.Finger and Rustay; work started after Finger's death
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