C.F. Johnson

Address unknown; “near Beaumont, TX”

1890 | Unknown | Undetermined

“Also, the same architect has sent plans to C.F. Johnson, of Beaumont, Texas, for the erection of a ‘bungalow’ near that place.” (June 18, 1890)

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In terms of archival research, this is one of the more challenging commissions in Minerva’s portfolio. C.F. Johnson was apparently a teacher and/or superintendent, but based on the limited information published about this project in the Philadelphia Real Estate Record and Builders Guide, it is difficult to confirm his full name or why he would have hired Minerva at such a distance from Philadelphia. Complicating matters further: it is hard to know how literally the allusion to “near Beaumont” (rather than in Beaumont) should be taken.

Despite some coincidences in their names (Maria Nye Johnson had a son with the initials “C.F.”), it does not appear that this commission is related to the commission for Dr. Maria Johnson of San Francisco, California. Alternatively, although Miss Mary Potts’ mother was named Johnson, raising the possibility of a connection between those commissions, there are no known links between this project and Mary Potts’ family.

— Research contributed by Bill Whitaker