Mills, Rhines, Bellman & Nordhoff

The firm of Mills, Rhines, Bellman & Nordhoff was formed in 1912 as a partnership between noted Toledo architect George S. Mills (1866–1939) and three of his employees: George V. Rhines (1875–1938), Lawrence S. Bellman (1876–1951) and Charles M. Nordhoff (1877–1950). After World War I two new partners were added: architect Chester B. Lee (1876–1933) in 1920 and mechanical and electrical engineer John Gillett (1882–1960) in 1922.[1][2] In 1929 the firm was incorporated, with the former partners becoming shareholders.[3] Rhines died in 1938, and in 1939 architect Reeve K. Biggers (1913–1998) was made a principal.[4] Mills died shortly thereafter, and in 1940 another architect, John N. Richards (1904–1982), was added.[5] Biggers left the firm during World War II, and upon Nordhoff's retirement in 1944 the firm was reorganized by the remaining principals as Bellman, Gillett & Richards.[6] In 1949 Bellman retired and two new principals, George H. Erard (1891–1959) and Michael B. O'Shea (1897–1969), were admitted.[7] In 1954 Gillett retired, and three more principals, architect Orville H. Bauer (1921–1979) and engineers Raymond A. Etzel (1901–1976) and Robert C. Moorhead (1911–2005), were added.[8]

In 1962 Richards became head of the firm, which was reorganized by the senior principals as Richards, Bauer & Moorhead.[9] Two more principals were added in 1971, architect Charles H. Stark III (1935–2012) and engineer Dean L. Lashbrook (1923–2001). Richards retired in 1976, leaving Bauer as senior principal. In early 1979 the firm was renamed Bauer, Stark & Lashbrook to reflect this change, but Bauer died only a few months later.[10] Lashbrook retired in the early 1990s, leaving Stark as senior principal. In 1999, when Stark formally closed the firm, it was noted as the oldest surviving architectural firm in Ohio.[11]

Mills, Rhines, Bellman & Nordhoff and its successors were Toledo's leading architectural firm. They designed many of the city's most prominent buildings, and developed a national reputation before World War II.[12] The firm was involved in important local projects until the very end. One of their last was the restoration of the Valentine Theatre, originally opened in 1895 and reopened in 1999 after an extensive restoration led by Stark.[11]

As members of a leading architectural firm, the principals of Mills, Rhines, Bellman & Nordhoff and its successors were well respected members of their professions. Mills, Bellman, Richards and Bauer were all elected Fellows of the American Institute of Architects, and Richards served as AIA president from 1958 to 1960.[13] They and their associates also frequently held leadership posts in local architectural and engineering organizations.

The firm and its individual partners designed a number of buildings that are listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places for their architecture.