For my last 6 blogs I will be looking at the work of Joseph Pierre Foucart. Foucart lived from 1848-1917 and was a prominent architect during the opening of the Oklahoma territory. It is said that the skyline of Guthrie Oklahoma is dominated by buildings that he designed. Foucart was originally from Arlon Belgium. He studied at the royal Athenaeum in Arlon. After graduating in 1865 he worked as a civil engineer and served in the French as army. His job included overseeing construction of castles in Belgium.

Joseph Moved to the United States in 1888 in settled land a little before the land rush. Most of his designs were influenced by Eugene Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc. Some of building he designed include the Bonfils Building, DeFord Building, Gaffney Building, Gray Brother’s Building, State Capital Publishing Company Building, Victor Block and the Foucart Building. He also designed the First National Bank and Trust Company in Perry, Oklahoma, the “Castle on the plains” at the Northwestern State Normal School in Alva and the Williams Hall library at Oklahoma State University.