Collections

Biographical Information

Joseph Emory Sirrine (December 9, 1872-1947) was born in Americus, Georgia. He received his formal education at the South Carolina Military Institute from 1883 to1886) and at Furman University in Greenville both in Greenville South Carolina. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1890. Following his graduation Sirrine started a professional practice as an engineer in Greenville in 1890. In his new home he became a leading businessman and an influential citizen. He originally worked for the New England firm Lockwood, Greene, and Company. He designed and built the first mill in Greenville in association with this firm. In 1898 Sirrine was hired as a full employee of this firm and was placed in charge of its new regional branch in Greenville. His work there consisted mostly of mill and factory contracts totaling some two dozens. At this time in his career Sirrine mostly supervised and review designs for buildings made in their central Boston office. A notable project of his from this time was the Loray Mill (1900-1902) in Gastonia, North Carolina one of the largest and most advanced in the country.

In 1902 Sirrine ended his relationship with the Boston firm and established his own office. This he would run for forty five years until his death in 1947. Many architects who would latter rise to prominence in their field got their start in this company. In 1916 Sirrine was registered as the seventy fourth officially recognized architects practicing in the state. In 1921 he expanded his personal practice into a joint affair with eight associates, this was named Sirrine & Company. This firm proved a great success and eventually spread all over the east and south east, they had an office in Dallas Texas and accepted contracts from such disparate places as Maine, Texas, Asheville, and Roanoke Virginia. Professionally Sirrine & Company largely worked in in textile mill projects, pulp and paper mills, power plants, municipal facilities, tobacco factories, and aluminum plants. This included both the architectural and engineering aspects of structure construction.

The firm was active throughout the continental United States during the early twentieth century. Sirrine & Company did extensive work for the United States government and Military during the Second World War such as the construction of  military installations, including air bases, ammunition depots, shipyards, and military camps, most prominent locally is their work at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Sirrine & Company continued to thrive after its founders death in 1947, it was eventually bought by a Texas engineering firm.

 

http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000303

 

Related Oral Interviews

The Buildings

Balfour Mills Operatives Dwellings (1925)

Chadwick-Hoskins Company Tenement Houses (1923)

Clinchfield Manufacturing Company Cotton Mill (1915)

Erlanger Mill Cloth Room and Cloth Storage Building (1922)

Erlanger Mill Village and Facilities (1916)

Erwin Cotton Mills Village (1923)

Grinnell/General Fire Extinguisher Company Complex (1929-1930)

Inverness Mills Company Cotton Warehouse (1920)

J. H. Carter and Company Cotton Warehouse (1920)

Loray Mill Village (Ca. 1900-1902)

North Carolina Finishing Company Warehouse (1924)

North Carolina State University Power Plant (1924)

P. H. Hanes Knitting Company Warehouse (1925)

Proximity Manufacturing Company Warehouse (1925)

R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Warehouse (1915)

Roanoke Mills Company Warehouse (1923)

Rosemary Manufacturing Company Mill (1901; 1904 (expanded))

Sayles Biltmore Bleaching Plant Building (1925-1927)

Sayles Biltmore Bleaching Plant Operatives Dwellings (1925-1927)

Tomlinson Chair Manufacturing Company Warehouse, Office, and Show Room Building (1926)

White Oak Mills (1902-1940s)

Inventory of Architecture

Selected Correspondence

Typological Motifs in Sirrine and Company's Work

Bibliography

About this site