Joseph Pierre Foucart


Joseph Pierre Foucart was a prominent architect during the opening of the Oklahoma Territory. The city of Guthrie, Oklahoma's skyline is dominated by buildings designed by him.
Foucart was the first architect to establish a practice in Oklahoma. He was the son of Katherine Mater and John Pierre Foucart, born on November 14, 1848 in Arlon, Belgium. He studied at the Royal Athenaeum in Arlon, Belgium, and studied civil engineering and architecture at Ghent, graduating in 1865. He worked as a civil engineer, and served in the French Army during the Franco-Prussian War. He oversaw the construction of the castle of Viere and assisted the architect for the King of Belgium. In 1880 he relocated to Paris and served as draftsman for the City Hall. His first wife was Frances Henrietta Jacques, who died in France. He later married Mary Philomene Jacquart née Coen in 1865. He immigrated to the United States in 1888 and settled within two months of the Land Rush of 1889. He left Guthrie in 1907 and moved to Muskogee, Oklahoma. He died there on April 11, 1917.
His building designs were influenced by the French architect Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc. The buildings Foucart 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; the last two buildings are no longer extant. He also designed two brick private residences in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
NameAddressYear BuiltArchitectural Style
State Capital Publishing Company Building
301 West Harrison Avenue, Guthrie, Oklahoma1902Commercial Style
Victor Block
202-206 W. Harrison Avenue, Guthrie, Oklahoma1893Richardsonian Romanesque
Foucart Building
115 W. Harrison Avenue, Guthrie, Oklahoma1891Romanesque Revival with Gothic Revival influences
Gray Brothers Building
101-103 W. Oklahoma Avenue, Guthrie, Oklahoma1890 & 1893Richardsonian Romanesque
Bonfils Building
107 S. Second Street, Guthrie, Oklahoma1890Richardsonian Romanesque
De Ford Building
116 S. Second Street, Guthrie, Oklahoma1890Richardsonian Romanesque
Gaffney Building
212-214 W. Oklahoma Avenue, Guthrie, Oklahoma1890Architectural style not classified
First National Bank
Perry, Oklahoma1902Italian Mannerist style
Castle on the Hill
Alva, Oklahoma
Williams Hall Library
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma
Joseph Foucart Designed Private Residence
Intersection of Ash and Cleveland Streets, Guthrie, Oklahoma
Joseph Foucart Designed Private Residence
Intersection of Maple Street and Warner Avenue, Guthrie, Oklahoma