Norman Foote Marsh

Norman Foote Marsh (July 16, 1871 - September 5, 1955)^[1][2] was an American architect based in Los Angeles, California who worked mostly in California and Arizona.

He was born in Upper Alton, Illinois. He obtained a B.S. degree from the College of Engineering and School of Architecture at the University of Illinois in 1897. He moved to Los Angeles in 1900.^[1]

Among his accomplishments is serving as principal architect for the design and construction of the City of Venice, California in 1906, working for the developer Abbott Kinney. Venice's design includes canals and a central district along Windward Avenue with the look of an Italian Renaissance street.^[1]

He designed more than 20 churches in the Los Angeles area (in Pasadena, Glendale, San Jose, Long Beach) and seven or more churches in San Diego. He designed houses in Hollywood and Ojai and elsewhere for prominent persons. He designed dozens of elementary and secondary schools and some University buildings in Arizona and California.^[1]

He was a partner in Marsh, Smith & Powell, along with partner Herbert Powell.^[3]

A number of his works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[4]

Works by Marsh or the firm include:

• a hotel in Hollywood in 1907^[1]
• a public library in Azusa in 1909^[1]
• the primary building of the first exclusive campus of Mesa Union High School (1909)^[5] in Mesa, Arizona, destroyed by accidental fire in 1967^[6][7]
• Park Place Methodist Episcopal Church South (1910), 508 Olive Street, San Diego, California^[1]
• three original buildings of Phoenix Union High School (1911–12), 512 E. Van Buren Phoenix, Arizona, NRHP-listed^[4][8]
• Monroe School (1914), 215 N. 7th St. Phoenix, Arizona, NRHP-listed^[4]
• Fourth Avenue Junior High School (1920), 450 S. 4th Ave. Yuma, Arizona (with V. Wallingford), NRHP-listed^[4]
• Friendship Baptist Church (1925), 80 W. Dayton St. Pasadena, California, NRHP-listed^[4]
• Second Baptist Church (1926), 1100 E. 24th St. Los Angeles, California, (with Paul R. Williams), NRHP-listed^[4]
• Parkhurst Building (1927), Santa Monica, California, (principally by Herbert Powell), NRHP-listed^[1]
• First Presbyterian Church (1927), 402 W. Monroe St. Phoenix, AZ, NRHP-listed^[4]
• Roosevelt School, 201 6th St. Yuma, Arizona, NRHP-listed^[4]
• Whittier High School^[1]
• Nazarene College, Pasadena, CA
• Ventura High School^[1]
• the Women's Improvement Association building in South Pasadena^[1]
• buildings for the campus of University of Redlands^[1]
• Hollywood High School Historic District, 1521 N. Highland Ave., Los Angeles, CA (Marsh, Smith, & Powell)

References

1. Ray Brandes; Francie Bryson-Mortenson (March 8, 1983). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Park Place Methodist Episcopal Church South / Balboa Park Place". National Park Service. Retrieved April 5, 2018. With 11 photos from 1911 and 1981-82.
2. "Norman Foote Marsh 1871-1955". misterdangerous. 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
3. Albert Hurtado. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Parkhurst Building". National Park Service. Retrieved June 9, 2019. With accompanying 12 photos from 1978
4. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
5. "Mesa Union High School". The Arizona Republican. 1913-10-14. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-01-20. Norman F. Marsh, Architect
6. "Historic schools in metro Phoenix". azcentral.com. 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
7. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
8. Cindy L. Myers; James W. Garrison (April 1982). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Phoenix Union High School Historic District / Phoenix Union High School". National Park Service. Retrieved April 5, 2018. With 21 photos, historic and from 1982.