Trost & Trost

Henry Charles Trost was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1860 to German immigrant parents. His father Ernst Trost, was a carpenter and builder. Graduating from art school in 1877, Trost worked as a draftsman for a Toledo architect for three years. Migrating west to Pueblo, Colorado in 1880, Trost established a partnership with Frank Weston, with whom he practiced off and on for eighteen years.

In 1887, after Pueblo's boom years dropped off, Trost moved to Chicago, an emerging center for architectural activity. Trost built his Chicago career designing in metal. He received national credit for advancing the art of metal into ornamental form. Trost contributed to the elaborate metal work on the Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co. building in Chicago.

Returning to Colorado in 1896, Trost reinstated his practice with Weston for three more years. In 1899 he relocated once again, this time to Tucson, Arizona. In 1903, Trost finally settled in El Paso, Texas to practice with brother Gustavus. His nephew George Ernst assisted. After the death of their father in 1908, Adolphus, the twin brother to Gustavus, joined the firm as structural engineer. The firm Trost and Trost had commissions all through the Southwest, the majority in El Paso,Texas and New Mexico.

Henry Trost, chief architect for the firm, is credited with shaping the downtown area of El Paso, where many of his buildings are now landmarks. He also contributed to the campus now known as the University of Texas at El Paso, choosing the unusual Bhutanese style, which echoes South Asian architecture. Utilizing numerous architectural styles, he found that several functioned well in the arid region of the Southwest.

The Occidental Insurance Company building in downtown Albuquerque, presently known as the New Mexico Title Company building, exemplifies the Venetian Gothic style of the fifteenth century. An earlier building for Occidental by Trost & Trost, erected in 1905, reflected the Chicago School of Architecture. The second structure, completed in 1916, resembles the Doge's Palace of Venice. Trost's scaled down version has a white glazed terra cotta facade with multiple ground level arches and leafy spandrels, reminiscent of his iron work in Chicago.

The Franciscan Hotel, built in 1923 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, received national and international attention. Echoing the Pueblo Revival Style, the hotel resembled the multi-storied pueblo communities along the Rio Grande River in central and northern New Mexico. The use of reinforced concrete, cubistic angles, and crude detailing demonstrated contemporary techniques. The hotel was featured in national publications and photographs of it were shown at the American Architectural exhibit in Europe in 1928. Unfortunately, the hotel was demolished in 1972.

Henry C. Trost left behind a rich architectural legacy for the Southwest. He died in El Paso on September 19, 1933. Trost & Trost continued to operate under his brothers until they closed it in 1946.

From the guide to the Trost & Trost architectural drawings, 1918-1931, (University Libraries, Center for Southwest Research.)