William Merchant (1889-1962)

William Gladstone Merchant was a San Francisco architect who trained in the offices of John Galen Howard and Bernard Maybeck. Merchant obtained his architectural license in 1918 and from 1917 to 1928, worked in the office of George W. Kelham. Merchant opened his own firm in San Francisco in 1930, designing a number of commercial buildings in San Francisco. From 1932-1939, he was the consulting architect for the San Francisco Recreation Commission; he was also a member of the Architectural Commission of Golden Gate International Exposition (1939). William G. Merchant & Associates was the successor firm to Bernard Maybeck.

The William G. Merchant collection spans the years 1934-1941 and contains correspondence, drawings, and a few photographs documenting Merchant’s personal and professional life. The bulk of the collection relates to the Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) held in 1939 in San Francisco. There are also drawings for a few private residences (one in Sonoma), a mausoleum in San Mateo County, and a drawing of St. Mary’s Square in San Francisco.