Harry Daniel Payne (1891–1987) was an American architect and engineer; protégé of noted St. Louis Architect,
William Ittner. Payne is most known for building designs in the U.S. State of
Texas after 1926, but before this as a member of the Ittner Firm, he designed schools and hospitals in other states. Payne was born in
St. Louis, Missouri, and was trained at
Washington University in St. Louis.[1] Upon graduation, he attended
Fort Sheridan Officers Training School, and served in World War I in Company H, 320th Infantry, 80th Division. On September 25–26, 1918 he fought in the
Meuse-Argone Offensive, leading men of H Company to take Dead Man's Hill (
Le Mort Homme). Payne received a battlefield commission to Captain just before the Armistice. He returned to St. Louis after the war to work with the Ittner form until 1926. That year he was recruited by
Houston School Board to design all new schools for the city. After this contract was completed he went on to design schools, jails, office buildings, stadiums, houses and museums in Texas including for
Anahuac ISD,
Beaumont ISD,
Corpus Christi ISD,
Houston ISD, and
Huntsville ISD.
After December 7, 1941, Payne tried to secure the renewal of his WWI Commission as Captain, but was refused because of disabilities resulting from injuries in the First World War. He found an outlet for his desire to serve by applying at
Brown Shipbuilding in Houston where he worked on the design of destroyers, frigates escorts and landing craft. The
USS Stewart is one surviving example of this work.
Payne was an active member of the
American Institute of Architects, and was awarded the Edward C. Kemper Award by the organization in 1962.
List of works built
River Oaks Elementary (1926) Houston
Wharton Elementary (1926) Houston
DeZavalla Elementary (1926) Houston
Eugene Field Elementary (1926) Houston
Andrew P. Briscoe Elementary (1926) Houston
Rufus Cage Elementary (1926) Houston
Edgar Allan Poe School (1926) Houston
Ashbel Smith Elementary (1927) Houston
Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary (1927) Houston
Hogg Junior High School (1928) Goose Creek (Baytown)