MEADE, FRANK B. (6 January 1867-March 1947), was a prominent architect active in Cleveland from 1895 until the 1930s who designed more than 800 homes in historical revival styles, many of them in partnership with JAMES M. HAMILTON. Meade was born to Alfred N. and Mattie Morse Meads in Norwalk, Ohio. After his service as captain in the 128th Ohio Infantry during the CIVIL WAR, Alfred ran a lumber company in Cleveland. William Gale Meade, Frank's grandfather, was an architect-builder for 25 years in Huron County. Educated at public schools in Cleveland, Frank Meade graduated from CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL in 1884. After graduating from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1888, he moved to Chicago where he worked as a draftsman in the firm of Jenney & Mundie from 1889 until 1893. Meade returned to Cleveland in 1894 and subsequently formed partnerships with Alfred H. Granger (Meade & Granger) from 1896 until 1897 and with ABRAM GARFIELD (Meade & Garfield) from 1898 until 1904. Meade ran his own firm until 1911 when he formed an enduring partnership with James M. Hamilton (Meade & Hamilton). During their thirty-year collaboration, the two architects designed many residences for Cleveland industrialists and professionals who lived on EUCLID AVENUE, in WADE PARK, and the surrounding SUBURBS and villages, such as SHAKER HEIGHTS and BRATENAHL. In addition to their residential practice, Meade & Hamilton completed six club buildings.
Meade was an active member of the UNION, Roadside, EUCLID, and Century clubs in Cleveland as well as the Lambs and Erie clubs in New York City. He was also an organizer and the first president of the HERMIT CLUB and designed its first clubhouse. Meade also played a leading role in developing the GROUP PLAN in Cleveland. Filling the vacancy on the Group Plan Commission created by the death of John M. Carrere in 1911, he served alongside the prominent architect Frederick Law Olmstead of Boston and sculptor Arnold Brunner of New York City. Meade was a member and past president of the AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS, CLEVELAND CHAPTER and a member of CLEVELAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. Meade married Dora Rucker on November 3, 1898 and they had no children. He died in Cleveland and was buried in LAKE VIEW CEMETERY.
Johannesen, Eric. Cleveland Architecture, 1876-1976 (1979).