The Journal of San Diego History
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
Summer 1984, Volume 30, Number 3
Thomas L. Scharf, Editor
By Rev. C. Douglas Kroll
Master of Arts Candidate in History at
The University of San Diego
Gill: gillnarinder@surreyschools.ca: Home Math 8 Math 9 Math 10 Foundations & Pre-Calculus Science 8 Science 10 Science & Technology 11 Math 11 Foundations Foundations Math 12 Math 9 Honors Math 10 Apprenticeship & Workplace Math 9 (Math Makes Sense). Katie's younger brother. Stephen is a Junior at Wingate University studying Communications. He is a proud member of the Kappa Alpha Order there and recently embarked on a 10 day adventure to Germany, making him the only sibling to have ever traveled internationally. Mr Gill joins Nord Anglia International School in Hong Kong after qualifying as a teacher from Liverpool John Moores University and teaching in England for four years– two of those years spent teaching year 6.
Any listing of the significant architects in San Diego’s history will include the name of Gill, although it will be Irving Gill1 rather than his nephew, Louis John Gill. An examination of the career and contributions of Louis Gill make this situation somewhat of a surprise. Gill’s talent’ as a designer of buildings and his contributions to the architectural profession were widely recognized during his lifetime but seem to have been forgotten with the passing of time. Louis John Gill is long overdue for recognition as one of the greatest architects in San Diego’s past.
A native of Syracuse, New York,2 Louis Gill graduated from Syracuse University3 in 1911 and came to San Diego later that year to begin a long and distinguished architectural career as a draftsman in the office of his uncle.4 Irving Gill promoted Louis to the position of Chief Draftsman in 1913 and by 1914 Louis and Irving Gill formed a partnership known as “Gill and Gill, Architects.”5
While associated with his uncle, Louis Gill assisted with the design of such buildings as the La Jolla Women’s Club and the Community House for the playground in the Scripps Group in La Jolla.6 Gill returned to his native Syracuse in 1915 to marry Mildred Elizabeth Stillman.7 After Gill’s return to San Diego with his new bride, he went on to assist in the design of a new residence for Ellen Scripps at 700 Prospect Street and in the plans for a new hospital for the San Diego Medical Society.8 Louis Gill also worked independently during this time and drew up plans for a new residence for Dr. Harry Wegeforth9 at 210 Maple Street.
In 1919 Irving and Louis Gill dissolved their partnership.10 Even before the partnership ended, Louis Gill had begun to establish his own reputation as a skilled designer of buildings. Dr. Harry Wegeforth selected Gill as the original architect for the San Diego Zoo in 1916. Louis Gill served on the executive staff of the San Diego Zoological Society for over twenty years.11
As the architect for the San Diego Zoo, Louis Gill designed the original buildings, cages and animal grottos.12 Later, in 1926, Gill drew up plans for the Zoo’s research hospital. This structure, a Spanish style building north of the California Building in Balboa Park, housed not only a zoological hospital, but a research laboratory as well.13 Louis Gill later received an Honor Award from the San Diego Chapter of the American Institute of Architects for the design of this building.14 Gill’s last major contribution to the Zoo was the design of the largest bird cage in the world, dedicated on March 7, 1937.15
About the same time that the partnership between Irving and Louis Gill ended, Louis Gill drew plans for his first house of worship16 – the Sacred Heart Church in Coronado. Considered the finest church building that Louis Gill ever designed, the Sacred Heart Church in Coronado maintained the ideals of the medieval designers of churches who subordinated every detail to some devotional purpose. The interior formed a Latin cross with the main altar at the head, two independent chapels with side altars for arms, and the long, high nave terminating the foot. A tone of hushed reverence filled the interior as a result of the exclusion of glaring light. Gill placed the few stained glass windows high in the nave and concealed the main lighting behind the arch that spanned the sanctuary rail. Every chaste line and shadowy niche impressed the worshiper with the sanctity of the place. This distinctive church edifice, with mission arches combined with the simple, square lines of Moorish architecture, and the bell tower with its tall, narrow windows, reminded the viewer of the early padres who labored in the wilderness of Mexico and California.17 This building, like the Zoological Hospital in Balboa Park, also received an Honor Award from the San Diego Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.18
Not long after Gill completed the design of the Sacred Heart Church in Coronado, he displayed his versatility by drawing plans for a house of worship for a congregation with much different theology of worship. In 1920 Gill began work on the plans for a new building for the Mission Hills Congregational Church. The structure, erected at the corner of Fort Stockton Drive and Jackdaw Street, displayed a modified Spanish architectural style. A walled garden between the two porches over the entrances enhanced the beauty of the exterior of the cement plaster construction buildings. Gill designed the church auditorium in an amphitheater style with an incline floor of terra cotta cement.19 Gill had a free hand in this project and produced a unique, attractive, old mission style of architecture.20
The Episcopal church of St. James-by-the-Sea in La Jolla, also displayed the skill of Louis Gill in the design of such structures. The design and construction of a tower that replicated the tower of the church at Campo Florida on the outskirts of Mexico City21 preceded the planning for a new sanctuary. After seeing a photograph of the original tower on a trip to Mexico City, Gill adapted the lines of the Campo Florida tower to local conditions, preserving most of the original lines. After the tower was designed, Gill prepared plans for the sanctuary, which was to be built after the construction of the tower. The entire complex needed to fit on a triangular piece of property that faced Prospect Street.22
In addition to the hospital building for the San Diego Zoo and a large number of church buildings, Louis Gill also drafted plans for several hospitals and clinics. The Rees-Stealy Clinic at Fourth and Grape Streets, one of the first medical buildings designed by Gill, claimed, at its opening in 1926, to be one of the most modern and best equipped medical clinics in the west.23 Gill would also design the San Diego Hospital Clinic at the corner of Seventh and G Streets in 1928, heralded as one of the best designed buildings for its purpose in southern California.24 That same year Gill also drafted plans for the Grace Deere Velie Clinic in Carmel.25 The Coronado Hospital and the Wegeforth Hospital in Coronado reflected the talent of Louis Gill as well. In 1937 Gill designed a new building for the Rees-Stealy Clinic, the largest clinic building ever erected in San Diego up to that time and the largest structure funded by private interests built in San Diego during the depression years.26
In addition to the churches, medical buildings and the numerous private residences and miscellaneous buildings that Louis Gill designed, two other public buildings should be mentioned in any discussion of this sort. The first of these buildings, the John W. Mitchell Art Gallery in Coronado, Gill considered to be one of his best works.27 A beautiful Spanish style building with an impressive rotunda and radiating galleries, the Art Gallery contained a large auditorium or music room with an organ built especially for the room. Four hand carved columns from an old church in Spain added to the beauty and distinctiveness of the rotunda.28 The destruction of the Art Gallery after the death of Mrs. Mitchell in 1931, grieved Gill a great deal.29
The other building that needs to be mentioned in any record of Louis Gill is the City-County Administration Building, known today as the County Administration Building.30 In 1935 Gill became the chairman of a group of four prominent San Diego architects, William Templeton Johnson,31 Richard S. Requa,32 and Sam Hamill,33 who would supervise the preparation of the plans for the building.34 This group of architects, under the leadership of Louis Gill, had three months to submit plans for the new building. Gill submitted the completed drawings and specifications in February of 1936, within the deadline.35 The new building, completed on January 10, 1938, is a pleasing combination of modern design with Spanish detail, and reflects the historic architecture of the southwest. The building, almost entirely constructed of reinforced concrete, including all floor and roof slabs, interior walls and columns, met in every particular the stringent regulations of the state relating to the construction of schools to resist earthquake forces.36
The contributions of this architect in the area of building design in San Diego, La Jolla and Coronado, by themselves, earn Louis Gill a place as one of the most important architects in the history of San Diego. But his service to the profession of architecture far exceeded those impressive contributions. Gill’s service in this area resulted from his view of the place of the architect in the community. He believed the place of the architect paralleled that of the doctor or the dentist. He once pointed out that:
A doctor deals with the life of his patient, while an architect may undertake to design a building where the public congregates, in which case the safety of many people may be involved.37
In his efforts to strengthen the architectural profession, Louis Gill always took an active part in the work of various professional societies. Gill, a member and past president of the old San Diego Architectural Association, founded the Architects Bureau of California38 in 1925 along with nine other men. One of the founders of the San Diego Chapter of the American Institute of Architects as well, Gill served as the first secretary of the chapter. He continued to serve on its board of directors for over ten years. Louis Gill served as the president of the chapter in 1932 and 1933 and as its secretary again from 1938 through 1941 and for a final term in 1947.39 This dedicated professional also served the American Institute of Architects on a national level as the chairman of the Committee on Membership from 1938 to 1942.40
In 1929, the year Louis Gill helped found the San Diego Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the governor appointed him to the California State Board of Architectural Examiners,41 a position Gill held for over twenty years, serving as the president of the board from 1932 to 1934 and again from 1947 to 1949. As the president of this board in 1933, Gill made one of his most important contributions to the architectural profession. Within hours after the disastrous earthquake struck Long Beach in 1933, Louis Gill traveled to the scene at the request of the governor. He visited Huntington Park, Compton and Long Beach where he viewed the effects of the quake in hundreds of buildings and made examinations of the various classes of buildings and types of construction affected. The results of his careful analysis of structural failures formed much of the earthquake codes of California which are now used throughout the world.42
On the local level, Gill served the City of San Diego from 1932 to 1936 as a member of the Board of Examiners and Appeals of the Department of Building Inspection.43 A member of the State Association of California Architects since its organization in 1935, Gill served on its board of directors, as a vice-president and as an associate editor of the Bulletin of the Association.44
In 1936 the department of architecture of Syracuse University selected Louis Gill and six other American architects to serve on its advisory committee. The University selected Gill because of his strong support for the education of architects at his alma mater.45 This San Diego architect’s interest in the education of architects also lead to an appointment to the National Architectural Accrediting Board from 1947 to 1954,46 a position that Gill thoroughly enjoyed.47 Gill also served on the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards48 from 1936 to 1946, the last four years as the president of the board.49
In addition to his lengthy and distinguished service on various professional boards and organizations, Louis Gill also participated in civic affairs in San Diego. A member of the board of directors of the Fine Arts Society of San Diego in 1939, Gill served as the chairman of the Art Committee and the Nominating Committee.50 His avocational interest in music51 lead to his membership on the advisory committee of the San Diego Opera Company from 1940 to 1942.52
Syracuse University recognized the contributions of Louis Gill as a designer of buildings and as a leader in the architectural profession when it awarded him an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degree in 1938. The citation that accompanied the degree described Louis Gill as an “Alumnus of Syracuse, skilled designer and leader in the profession of architecture on the west coast of the United States.”53
The American Institute of Architects also honored Louis Gill by electing him to the Institute’s college of fellows in 1942. The election was “in recognition of the high quality of his architectural work, for his unselfish service in the interests of the organization’s San Diego Chapter and his constructive activities in civic affairs.”54
Louis Gill retired from his practice of architecture in 1955 after a forty-four year career in San Diego. Gill lived in retirement in San Diego55 until July of 1969 when he and his wife moved to Studio City, California to be near their children.56 Before he left San Diego, Gill donated a collection of twenty-five rare and valuable books on architecture, which included two by Frank Lloyd Wright translated into German, to the library of the Fine Arts Gallery. This collection provided a strong nucleus on the architectural arts for the library. These books would become a part of the legacy that Louis Gill would leave in San Diego.57
Louis John Gill died on August 19, 1969 in Studio City.58 His oldest son presided at a requiem eucharist at St. Saviour’s Chapel of Harvard School, North Hollywood, on August 28, 1969.59 Atop the casket at the private family service lay two objects that symbolized the status of Louis Gill as one of the most distinguished architects of southern California, if not of the nation: his Doctor of Fine Arts hood and the silver fellowship medal of the American Institute of Architects.60 Gill’s widow and three sons, the Reverend John Stillman Gill, Donald S. Gill, and Louis Dodge Gill,61 all survived him.
Louis John Gill, widely recognized during his lifetime as a skillful designer of buildings and a dedicated professional, has somehow faded into oblivion with the passing of time. Gill is long overdue for recognition, not only as a significant architect in San Diego’s history, but as a talented professional whose contributions and service spanned not only the state of California but the entire nation.
1. Irving J. Gill (1870-1936) worked with Louis Sullivan in Chicago on the Columbian Exposition of 1893, and later came to San Diego to practice architecture. Without formal training in architecture, he nevertheless is considered one of the most important pioneers of the modern movement in architecture. An experimenter, innovator, and inventor, he used the newest building materials and methods and developed a unique design style. More detailed information can be found in William Dudly Hunt, Jr., Encyclopedia of American Architecture, (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1980), pp. 214 ff.
2. Born at Syracuse, New York on May 9, 1885, the son of John David Gill and Harriet Thompson Gill, Louis Gill grew up in the city of his birth. John Gill’s family immigrated to New York State from Lincolnshire, England and Harriet’s family resided in Providence, Rhode Island. See biographical article on Louis J. Gill in Carl H. Heilbron, History of San Diego County, (San Diego: San Diego Press Club, 1936), p. 25.
3. In 1907 Louis Gill entered Syracuse University and studied architecture under the direction of such renowned professors as David Avaron, a Grande Prix de Rome scholar and Dr. Frederick W. Revels, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Gill graduated from the university in 1911 with the degree of Bachelor of Architecture and won the university scholarship upon graduation. Heilbron, History of San Diego County, p. 26.
4. Gill described the office of his uncle as “larger than any of those in Syracuse, and San Diego was then still a small town. He had six draftsmen, an outside superintendent and a secretary.” McCoy, Five California Architects, (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1960), p. 75.
5. See John D. Henderson, Editor, San Diego A.I.A. Guide, (San Diego: San Diego Chapter, A.I.A., 1971), p. 15.
6. See McCoy, Five California Architects, p. 79.
7. Mildred Elizabeth Stillman, born and educated at Syracuse, New York, graduated from Syracuse University in 1911 with the degree of Bachelor of Art, in painting. Louis Gill and his bride had met as students at the College of Fine Arts at Syracuse University. Elizabeth, a considerable success as a painter of portraits, especially portraits of children, shared with her husband a genuine interest in fine art. The marriage took place at Trinity Episcopal Church in Syracuse, New York on October 2, 1915. Heilbron, History of San Diego County, p. 27, and Eileen Jackson, “Louis Gills to Note Golden Date on Oct. 2,” San Diego Union, September 24, 1965.
8. The hospital is described in “Campaign for New Hospital Stirs Enthusiasm,” San Diego Union, August 20, 1916.
9. The Save Our Heritage Tour Committee described the house of Dr. Harry Wegeforth, founder of the Zoological Society of San Diego in 1916, in The San Diego Gills: Hillcrest and Uptown. (San Diego: Save Our Heritage Tour Committee, 1975), p. 4.
10. See Who’s Who on the Pacific Coast, (Chicago: The A.N. Marquis Company, 1949), p. 339.
11. See “Zoo Celebrates 20th Year, Asks $35,000 Aid In Plans,” San Diego Union, December 20, 1936.
12. John McCambridge, using information obtained from the eldest son of Louis Gill, described the process that Gill used to design these cages and grottos in his unpublished manuscript, “Louis Gill, San Diego Architect,” of May 21, 1973. The manuscript is on file at the San Diego History Center Research Archives.
Mrs N Gill Homestead
13. The Zoological Hospital is described in “Will Build $50,000 Zoological Hospital in San Diego,” San Diego Union, July 16, 1926.
14. In 1933 the San Diego Chapter invited a jury of architects from Los Angeles to visit San Diego and make awards in each of various architectural classes of buildings, based upon exceptional architectural merit of plan, function and design. The awards committee cited [he Zoological Hospital for “simple, well-proportioned facade, suited to purpose.” “Vote San Diego 200 Honor Awards; Park Structures Win Highest Praise,” San Diego Union. June 30, 1933.
Mrs N Gill Homer
15. The cage, a mammoth steel structure 180 feet long, sixty feet wide and more than 100 feet high, funded by the WPA at a cost of $50,000, had no beams, cross or guy-wires to impede the flight of the birds. “Giant Zoo Cage to be Dedicated by Eagles Soon,” San Diego Union, February 21, 1937.
16. An inventory of Louis Gill’s drawings, listing all the buildings he is known to have designed is maintained by the University of California at Santa Barbara. This list indicated more than a dozen churches that Gill designed, a number far exceeding any other class of building, except for private residences. A copy of this inventory is in the possession of the San Diego Historical Society Research Archives.
17. A detailed description of this church building is given in “Cornerstone of New Catholic Church at Coronado Will Be Laid Next Sunday,” San Diego Union, May 23, 1920.
18. The committee cited the church for “worthy results with modest budget.” “Vote San Diego 200 Honor Awards; . . .” San Diego Union, June 30, 1933.
19. A complete description of this structure is given in “Mission Hills Congregational Church Plans to Erect New Place of Worship Before Autumn,” San Diego Union, May 2, 1920.
20. A newspaper reporter made this statement in “New Church Home in Mission Hills to be Dedicated,” San Diego Union, March 19, 1921.
21. In one of the early revolutions against the Diaz regime, the remnants of a force of insurrectionists took refuge in the church at Campo Florida, and held off the federalist forces for many hours, taking their final fighting positions in the church tower. In revenge for the heroic defense of the insurrectionists, the Diaz forces destroyed the church and tower with their heavy guns. Photographs of the church and tower were preserved, however. “Tower for Church of St. James-by-the-Sea to be Replica of Historic One in Mexico,” San Diego Union, January 1, 1928.
22. Ibid.
23. A reporter described the Rees-Stealy Clinic and made this claim in “San Diego’s New Medical Clinic To Be Opened Tuesday; Most Modern Equipment Available Is Installed,” San Diego Union, June 13, 1926.
24. The San Diego Hospital Clinic had many unique and innovative features. Gill used Vita glass for the windows, since it would not block the violet rays of sunlight and magnesite for the floors and walls for its hygienic advantages. “San Diego Sets Example In Progress By Creating Many-Featured Hospital,” San Diego Union, September 23, 1928.
25. The Grace Deere Velie Clinic in Carmel devoted itself to the same sort of metabolic research and treatment as the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla. Since Louis Gill had designed the Scripps Clinic, the builders of the clinic at Carmel chose him as their designer. “Gathers Data for New Clinic,” San Diego Union, March 30, 1928.
26. Costing about $80,000 and four stories high, the clinic covered a ground space of eighty-six by fifty-four feet, fronting on Fourth Avenue. “Work Is Started On New Clinic,” San Diego Union, July 30, 1937.
27. John Stillman Gill discussed the feelings of his father toward the Mitchell Art Gallery in an “Oral Interview Conducted by Doug Kroll at the Harvard School, North Hollywood, California on October 8, 1983.”
28. Daisy Kessler Biermann described the gallery in “San Diego’s Wealth of Art Collections,” San Diego Magazine, September, 1927, pp. 9-11.
29. John Stillman Gill stated that his father was very upset by the decision of “the retired admirals who ran Coronado” to tear down the Mitchell Art Gallery. “Oral Interview . . . October 8, 1983.”
30. Voters adopted San Diego’s City Plan on March 8, 1926 and approved the building of a Civic Center, which would include an Administration Building, on March 22, 1927. Subsequent acute financial conditions, however, precluded its construction. In 1935, Ralph E. Jenney, then chairman of the California Relief Commission, determined to seek WPA funds for the project. See an undated article in the Southwest Builder and Contractor in 1938 in the “Scrapbook of Louis Gill,” in North Hollywood, California.
31. William Templeton Johnson came to San Diego in 1912. He designed the San Diego Trust and Savings Bank Building, the Junipero Serra Memorial Museum, the Fine Arts Gallery in Balboa Park, the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park, and the United States Post Office on E Street in San Diego in addition to-many other projects. Heilbron, History of San Diego County, pp. 305-306.
32. Richard S. Requa began his architectural career in the office of Irving Gill, later becoming Gill’s partner. Requa won wide renown for his creation of the so-called Southern California type of architecture. He served as the director of architecture for the 1935-36 San Diego Exposition and designed all the new buildings constructed for the exposition. Heilbron, History of San Diego County, pp. 141-142.
33. Sam Hamill lives in retirement in San Diego. A 1927 graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, he began his career with Richard S. Requa. He served as a partner with Requa, both prior to and during the building of the County Administration Building. Among other projects, Hamill supervised the renovation of the House of Hospitality in Balboa Park, the San Diego Community Concourse and the County Courthouse and Jail. “Oral Interview with Sam Hamill on October 22, 1983.”
34. The local chapter of the American Institute of Architects selected the architects to draw the plans and supervise the work. Louis Gill acted as the chairman and chief spokesman for the architects. “Supervisors Sign Center Contract; City to Follow,” San Diego Union, November 20, 1935.
35. See Richard S. Requa, “San Diego’s New Civic Center,” Architect and Engineer, Vol. 138, (July 1939), pp. 33-36.
36. Richard S. Requa gave a good description of the building and its construction in “San Diego’s New Civic Center,” pp. 33-35.
37. As the president of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, Gill argued that just as the public needed to be protected against unscrupulous and incompetent practitioners in the legal, medical and dental professions, so it also needs to require examinations to establish the qualifications of those seeking to practice architecture. “Architect Gives Glimpse of After-the-War Wonders,” Cincinnati Times, May 25, 1943.
38. The Architects Bureau of California, an organization of ten architects from the state, sponsored the publication of information as to proposed buildings, gathered from the offices of architects, for the trades. The Bureau used the funds received from such publications for scholarships in architectural schools and funds for their libraries. Heilbron, History of San Diego County, p. 26.
39. The offices held by Louis Gill are contained in the records at the office of the San Diego Chapter, American Institute of Architects, San Diego, California.
40. Gill’s service on the national level is cited in George S. Koyl, Editor, American Architects Directory, (New York: R.R. Bowker Company, 1962), p. 247 and also in convention programs in Gill’s “Scrapbook.”
41. The Board of Architectural Examiners, a state commission of ten architects created by an act of the state legislature in 1903, administered the laws governing the practice of architecture in California and, by examination, granted licenses to practice the profession in the state. Heilbron, History of San Diego County, p. 26.
42. The “Scrapbook of Louis Gill” contains numerous articles dealing with the earthquake, the visit and the analysis that he made, and his testimony before the state legislature. See also Richard S. Requa, “Architect Urges Quake-Resisting Buildings Here,” San Diego Union, March 19, 1933.
43. The Board of Examiners and Appeals administered the building ordinances of the City of San Diego. Heilbron, History of San Diego County, p. 26.
44. As one of the Associate Editors, Gill furnished articles of interest to the association and the profession and news items about the architects in the San Diego district of the association. The “Bulletin” appeared in the Southwest Builder and Contractor once a month. Robert H. Orr, Association President, letter to Louis Gill dated November 26, 1943, in “Scrapbook of Louis Gill.”
45. The committee met several times each year with the faculty of the department to discuss with them various questions. “Hill Names 7 Grads As School Advisors,” The Herald, Syracuse, New York, February 7, 1937.
46. See Koyle, American Architects Directory, p. 247.
47. John Stillman Gill stated that of all the boards and committees on which his father had served, he enjoyed the National Accrediting Board more than any other. The board granted accreditation to schools of architecture at universities throughout the country. “Oral Interview . . . October 8, 1983.”
48. The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, a quasi-official authority recognized by the American Institute of Architects and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, established proper standards of examinations for admission to practice the profession of architecture. Untitled article from the Detroit Daily News, July 30, 1944, in “Scrapbook of Louis Gill.”
Mrs N Gill Home Furniture
49. See Koyle, American Architects Directory, p. 247.
50. The service of Louis Gill with the Fine Arts Society of San Diego is indicated on a program in the “Scrapbook of Louis Gill.”
51. Gill, a pianist, maintained an extensive musical library. Heilbron, History of San Diego County, p. 27 and verified in “Oral Interview with John Stillman Gill . . . October 8, 1983.”
Mrs N Gill Home Improvement
52. Various programs from the San Diego Opera Company in the “Scrapbook of Louis Gill” indicated his service as a member of the advisory committee.
53. The complete citation also included “member of the state board of architectural examiners in California, vice-president of the National Council of Architectural Regulation boards.” The Post-Standard, Syracuse, New York, June 7, 1938.
54. An article in the State Association of California Architects “Bulletin” of July 17, 1942, contained the reasons for Gill’s selection.
55. Louis Gill and his wife lived quietly at 2236 Ft. Stockton Drive in their Mission Hills home after 1936. San Diego City Directories.
56. The reasons for this move are cited in “Louis Gill – Obituary,” San Diego Union, September 3, 1969.
57. See “S.D. Memory Book,” San Diego Union, September 16, 1969.
58. See Donald S. Gill, “Louis John Gill, F.A.I.A. – Obituary” on file at the library of the American Institute of Architects in Washington, D.C.
59. Harvard School is a private high school operated by the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.
60. Donald S. Gill described the service in “Louis John Gill, F.A.I.A. – Obituary.”
61. John Stillman Gill is the chaplain and former chairman of the history department at Harvard School, North Hollywood, past chairman of the Examining Chaplains and past historiographer of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Donald S. Gill, A.I.A., was a partner in the architectural firm of Deasy and Boiling in Los Angeles. Louis Dodge Gill served for several years as the President of the Board of Public Works Commissioners of the City of Los Angeles before he returned to private engineering practice. Donald S. Gill, “Louis John Gill, F.A.I.A. – Obituary.”
This article received the Kamerling Award at the San Diego Historical Society’s 1984 Institute of History