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Robert A. Ritterbush
Born(1891-10-13)October 13, 1891
Oakes, North Dakota
DiedJanuary 18, 1980(1980-01-18) (aged 88)
Bismarck, North Dakota
NationalityAmerican
OccupationArchitect
The Hettinger County Courthouse in Mott, designed by Ritterbush Brothers and completed in 1936.
The Valley City Municipal Auditorium, completed in 1937.
The former North Dakota Governor's Residence in Bismarck, completed in 1960 and demolished in 2018.
The Montana–Dakota Utilities Company Building in Bismarck, completed in 1968.

Robert A. Ritterbush FAIA (1891–1980) was an American architect in practice in Bismarck, North Dakota, from 1920 until 1967.

Life and career[edit]

Robert Alonzo Ritterbush was born October 13, 1891, in Oakes, North Dakota, to William Donald Ritterbush, a contractor, and Elizabeth (Dyer) Ritterbush.[1] He was educated at the Ohio Mechanics Institute, later part of the University of Cincinnati, graduating in 1917. During World War I he served with the navy in France. In 1920 he returned to North Dakota, settling in Bismarck, where he and his brother, Clarence W. Ritterbush (1893–1990), formed a partnership with established architect Arthur Van Horn. When Van Horn died in 1931 the brothers succeeded to the practice, which they renamed Ritterbush Brothers.[2] Clarence retired in 1953, and was replaced as partner by Robert H. Ritterbush, Robert's son.[3][4] The elder Ritterbush retired as partner in 1967, but was retained as a consultant until 1973, when he fully retired.[2]

In 1922 Ritterbush joined the North Dakota Association of Architects, of which Van Horn had been a founding member in 1917.[5] In 1953 the association achieved its long-time goal of affiliating with the American Institute of Architects, and all of its members, including Ritterbush, became members of the AIA. From the time he joined in 1922 until 1965 he was secretary–treasurer of the North Dakota association. In 1966, following his retirement from that office, the association honored him for his "46 years of practice in architecture and outstanding service to the profession." In 1969 he was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, the organization's highest membership honor.[6]

Personal life[edit]

Ritterbush was married in 1921 to Ruth Nichols in Minneapolis, and they had two children, including Robert Harrison Ritterbush (1926–2019). Ritterbush died January 18, 1980, in Bismarck.[6]

Legacy[edit]

After Ritterbush retired in 1973, his son Robert and his associate, Merlin E. Redrud, continued the practice as Ritterbush Associates. The firm was renamed Ritterbush–Ellig–Hulsing in 1997. Major projects of the successor firm include the judicial wing addition to the North Dakota State Capitol, completed in 1981,[7] and the Bismarck North Dakota Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, completed in 1999. The younger Ritterbush died in 2019, and in 2021 the firm was merged with EAPC Architects Engineers, a large firm from Grand Forks.[8]

In addition to three designed with Van Horn, two buildings designed by Ritterbush have been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. Others contribute to listed historic districts.

Architectural works[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Designed in association with Edwin Hawley Hewitt of Minneapolis.
  2. ^ A contributing property to the Bismarck Cathedral Area Historic District, NRHP-listed in 1980 and expanded in 1997.
  3. ^ A contributing property to the Downtown Bismarck Historic District, NRHP-listed in 2001 and amended in 2012.
  4. ^ For lack of space, the college, now Bismarck State College, moved to a new campus in 1961. This building is now a state office building.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Frederick Clifton Pierce, Field Genealogy 2 (Chicago: Hammond Press, 1901): 724.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Ritterbush, Robert Alonzo" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1970): 766.
  3. ^ a b c d "Ritterbush, Robert Harrison" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1970): 766–767.
  4. ^ Van Horn-Ritterbush Architecture Records, State Historical Society of North Dakota.
  5. ^ Western Architect 26, no. 1 (July, 1917): viii.
  6. ^ a b ""Robert Ritterbush, Bismarck Architect" in Bismarck Tribune, January 19, 1980, 8.
  7. ^ John Deacon, North Dakota Supreme Court, American Courthouses.
  8. ^ Lori Bakken, "EAPC Collaborates with Hulsing & REH in Western North Dakota," EAPC, August 30, 2021.
  9. ^ Bridgemen's Magazine 34, no. 7 (July, 1934): 419.
  10. ^ Hettinger County Courthouse NRHP Registration Form (1985)
  11. ^ Steve C. Martens and Ronald H. L. M. Ramsay, Buildings of North Dakota (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2015)
  12. ^ Valley City Municipal Auditorium NRHP Registration Form (2008)
  13. ^ Engineering News-Record 143, no. 1 (July 7, 1949): 133.
  14. ^ Bismarck Cathedral Area Historic District (Boundary Increase) NRHP Registration Form (1997)
  15. ^ A. C. Van Wyk, "Midwestern Community Adopts a Long Range Improvement BulletinAmerican School Board Journal 122, no. 2 (February, 1951): 46–48.
  16. ^ Downtown Bismarck Historic District NRHP Registration Form (2001)
  17. ^ College and University Business 21, no. 4 (1956)
  18. ^ Engineering News-Record 154, no. 19 (May 12, 1955): 148.
  19. ^ Engineering News-Record 159, no. 16 (October 17, 1957): 370.
  20. ^ Engineering News-Record 159, no. 4 (July 25, 1957): 109.
  21. ^ Cathy Keating, Our Governor's Mansions (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997): 290–296.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritterbush_Brothers