Isaac S. Taylor

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Isaac S. Taylor, also known as Ike Taylor, was an American architect who became one of St. Louis’s leading designers around the turn of the 20th century. He was born December 31, 1850 in Nashville, Tennessee, and moved with his family to St. Louis a year later. He studied at St. Louis University, earning honors in classical languages in 1868, then joined the firm of George I. Barnett, a prominent St. Louis architect. Taylor rose to become Barnett’s junior partner from 1876 to 1881, working on major downtown projects such as the Southern Hotel, the Julie Building, and the Mercantile Center, as well as on notable residential designs like Shaw Place.

Taylor then established his own firm and built a reputation for large commercial buildings in downtown St. Louis. The 1885 completion of the Drummond Building, a six-story structure for the Drummond Tobacco Company, helped solidify his standing. He also designed hotels, factories, and other offices, including the Beers Hotel (1884) and the Hurst Hotel (remodeled in 1885 and again in 1897). His early industrial work included projects for the St. Louis Illuminating Company and the Woodward and Tiernan Print Co. He extended his reach beyond St. Louis, building the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and the National Hotel in Peoria, Illinois.

From the late 1880s to the early 1900s, Taylor’s firm led a wave of downtown growth in St. Louis. The Liggett & Myers/Rice-Stix Building (1888–89), a massive block on Washington Avenue, became one of his signature projects. The building showcased his solid, practical approach and attention to dramatic interior brick arches, cast iron, and strong construction. Taylor attracted clients from many industries and hired Oscar Enders in 1890, bringing a fresh, contemporary look to his firm in the 1890s. His central business district work reflected the city’s rise as a transportation hub and commercial powerhouse, with monumental office blocks that defined the skyline.

Taylor also developed close ties with St. Louis’s newspaper industry, designing the Globe-Democrat Building (1889) and the St. Louis Republic Building (1899). He was not known as an innovator, but as a versatile designer who delivered stylish, practical buildings that met his clients’ needs and aligned with popular trends of the era. His international work included the Grand National Hotel in Mexico City and a passenger depot for the Monterey and Gulf Railroad in Monterrey, completed in 1894.

The crowning achievement of Taylor’s career was his leadership of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904. As Chairman of the Architectural Commission and Director of Works, he oversaw the fair’s overall design and construction, working closely with Emmanuel Louis Masqueray and managing the demands of funding, timelines, and coordination. He also designed several major pavilions himself, including many temporary structures such as the Agriculture Building and the Missouri State Building, while continuing to run his firm.

After the fair, Taylor returned to his practice and continued shaping St. Louis with tall office buildings like the Mills Building (1906), Aberdeen Building (1907), and the LaSalle Building (1909). He oversaw the dramatic modernization of the Equitable Building in 1910, raising its top eight stories and replacing the lower floors behind a new glass and steel façade. He also worked on additions to other large offices and pursued projects in Texas, notably the Majestic Theater in Dallas (built 1911) and a Dallas Chamber of Commerce office building (1912).

Toward the end of his career, Taylor designed two major Beaux-Arts civic buildings in St. Louis: the Municipal Courts Building (opened 1910) and the Jefferson Memorial Building (1911–12), which houses the Missouri History Museum. He was a lifelong bachelor, described as a large man with a convivial, generous personality and a deep love of U.S. history and Gothic architecture. He was respected for his professional leadership and helped advance the formalization of architecture as a profession in America, including his role as a charter member of the Western Association of Architects and later a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Isaac S. Taylor died October 28, 1917, in St. Louis at age 66, leaving an estate of about $400,000. He left most of his wealth to his brother George, who lived in Mexico City, and gave his architectural library and records to Oscar Enders.