Louis Weissbein (1831–1913) was a German-born American architect practicing in Boston, Massachusetts.

Life and career Louis Weissbein was born July 19, 1831, to Michael A. Weissbein and Johanna (Basch) Weissbein in Krotoschin, then under the control of Prussia but historically and presently a part of Poland. He was educated in a local school and studied with a government architect, followed by two years at the Bauakademie in Berlin. In 1854 he immigrated to the United States, settling in Boston.Who's Who in New England, ed. Albert Nelson Marquis (Chicago: A. N. Marquis & Company, 1909): 985.Death certificate, 1913. For four years he worked as a draftsman for various architects, including Richard Bond and Nathaniel J. Bradlee.Boston directories In 1858 he established his own office in Boston. He was a sole practitioner until 1883, when he formed a partnership with William Hatch Jones, who had joined Weissbein as a draftsman .Louis Weissbein, Back Bay Houses. The firm of Weissbein & Jones was active until Jones' death in 1903. Weissbein then returned to private practice, retiring shortly before his death.

Weissbein was a Republican. During his term as Mayor of Boston, Hugh O'Brien proposed to appoint him City Architect of Boston, though he declined. In 1891 he was appointed to the Board of Commissioners of Prisons by Governor William E. Russell, and he resigned in 1894."Weissbein Succeeds Fitz" in Boston Daily Globe, April 23, 1891, 10."Gen. Bridges Resigns" in Boston Daily Globe, January 4, 1894, 1. Weissbein was a member of the American Institute of Architects from 1870 until 1895, and became a Fellow in 1889.Louis Weissbein, AIA Historical Directory of American Architects.

Personal life Weissbein was Jewish, and may have been the first Jewish architect to practice in Boston. He was one of the best-known German residents of Boston, and was a leader in local German society and philanthropy. For fifty years he was a member of the Orpheus Musical Society, a German singing society, and was president for 22 years."Gift For Louis Weissbein" in Boston Daily Globe, December 12, 1913, 9.

Weissbein never married. He died December 10, 1913, in Boston."Noted as Architect" in Boston Daily Globe, December 15, 1906, 13. At his death he bequeathed four thousand dollars to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to support scholarships for Jewish students.Technology Review 16, no. 1 (January, 1914): 10.

Legacy Weissbein's major works include the original buildings of Boston College and Temple Israel, the latter of which is the oldest synagogue building in Massachusetts. He also designed a concentration of large buildings, including the courthouse, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, one of which has been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. Many of his other works contribute to listed historic districts.

Weissbein established the Louis Weissbeing Scholarship Fund (1915) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology "to found a scholarship to be awarded each year to a promising student, preference to be given a Jewish boy in making the award."

Architectural works Boston College (former), 761 Harrison Ave, Boston, Massachusetts (1858–60)Keith N. Morgan, Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009) Washington Building, 387 Washington St, Boston, Massachusetts (1859, demolished)"Washington Building" in Ballou's Pictorial 17, no. 25 (December 17, 1859): 385. Public Library of Brookline, 361 Washington St, Brookline, Massachusetts (1866–69, demolished)Kenneth A. Breisch, Henry Hobson Richardson and the Small Public Library in America (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997) House for Louis Prang, 29 Centre St, Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts (1867)Illustrated Boston (New York: American Publishing and Engraving Company, 1889): 115.Historic Area Detail: BOS.RC, Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System. L. Prang & Company factory, 1 Gardner St, Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts (1867 et seq) Berkshire Life Insurance Company Building, 5 North St, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (1868, altered 1911, NRHP 1986)Historic Building Detail: PIT.102, Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System. Berkshire County Courthouse, 76 East St, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (1869–71, altered 1908)Historic Building Detail: PIT.101, Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System. Berkshire County House of Correction, 264 2nd St, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (1869–71)Historic Building Detail: PIT.172, Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System. Fire Station No. 1, 140 Washington St, Brookline, Massachusetts (1870–71, demolished 1907)History of the Brookline Fire Department, Brookline Firefighters Association. Academy of Music, 160-196 North St, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (1872, burned 1912)Edward Boltwood, The History of Pittsfield, Massachusetts; from the Year 1876 to the Year 1916 (Pittsfield: City of Pittsfield, 1916) Four houses for George Wheatland Jr., 225, 227, 229 and 231 Marlborough St, Boston, Massachusetts (1873–74)225 Marlborough, Back Bay Houses. Dudley School, Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts (1874, demolished)"Intelligence," Massachusetts Teacher 27, no. 11 (November 1874): 462. Hotel Comfort, 10 Williams St, Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts (1877–78) House for Henry Schreiber, 175 Poplar St, Roslindale, Boston, Massachusetts (1879)Adam Gaffin, "Roslindale residents to seek landmark status for house Mary Baker Eddy once lived in," Universal Hub, June 18, 2016. Morse Block, 58-72 South St, Boston, Massachusetts (1880–83, demolished)Charles S. Damrell, A Half Century of Boston's Building (Boston: Louis P. Hager, 1895) House for J. Avery Richards, 103 Newbury St, Boston, Massachusetts (1881, altered)Historic Building Detail: BOS.3735, Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System. Blake and Osborne Building, 118 South St, Boston, Massachusetts (1883) House for Leopold Morse, Boston, Massachusetts (1884–85, altered 1929)203 Commonwealth, Back Bay Houses. Hecht Building, 207-209 Federal St, Boston, Massachusetts (1885–86, burned 1893) Hotel Dunbar, 2401 Washington St, Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts (1885–86, burned 1982)Andrew Elder and Jeremy C. Fox, Boston's Orange Line (Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2013) Temple Israel (former), 600 Columbus Ave, Boston, Massachusetts (1885)David Kaufman, "Temples in the American Athens: A History of the Synagogues of Boston" in The Jews of Boston, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna and Ellen Smith (Boston: Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, 1995): 165-207. Soldiers' Home addition, Chelsea, Massachusetts (1889–90, demolished)Report of the Auditor of Accounts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the Year ending December 31, 1889 (Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1890) Waterman Block, 2328 Washington St, Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts (1890) Elysium Club, 218 Huntington Ave, Boston, Massachusetts (1891, demolished) Hecht Building, 207-221 Federal St, Boston, Massachusetts (1893, demolished) W. L. Lockhart & Company factory, 120 1st St, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1902, demolished)"Real Estate and Building" in Cambridge Chronicle, August 23, 1902, 1.

Gallery of architectural works

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