| Notes & References: |
Reno Architect
So who was George Ashmead Ferris, who sometimes gets credit for the Ferris wheel? That George was born in Philadelphia Jan. 31, 1859, two weeks before George W. G. Ferris. He was educated in Quaker schools and at Swarthmore College, later coming to Colorado and northern California. In 1906, he opened an office in Reno as an architect. George A. Ferris designed most of the schools in Reno after his arrival as well as high schools in Las Vegas, Eureka and Austin. His design for the Governor’s Mansion was accepted by acting Gov. Denver Dickerson in 1908. In the mid-1920s, Ferris and prominent architect Frederic J. DeLongchamps jointly supervised the plans for the state building in downtown Reno, where the Pioneer Center stands today.
George A. Ferris died at Saint Mary’s Hospital in Reno on Aug. 12, 1948, leaving a son, Lehman A. “Monk” Ferris, to carry on the architectural firm. Lehman died in 1997 at the age of 103. |
