Coburn & Barnum

Who was Coburn & Barnum?

Coburn & Barnum was a Cleveland, Ohio architectural firm from 1878 to 1897. It was established by Forrest A. Coburn and Frank Seymour Barnum. The firm also included W. Dominick Benes and Benjamin S. Hubbell for one year and was known as Coburn, Barnum, Benes & Hubbell until 1897, when Benes and Hubell departed to establish their own firm Hubbell & Benes. After their departure and Coburn's death, Barnum formed F. S. Barnum & Co. with Albert Skeel, Harry S. Nelson, Herbert Briggs, and Wilbur M. Hall. Barnum also served as consulting architect to the Cleveland Board of Education. He retired in 1915 having designed more than 75 school buildings, the Caxton Building and the Park Building, an early example of reinforced concrete floor slabs. The firm continued after his 1915 retirement under the name of Briggs & Nelson.

National Register of Historic Places listed buildings by the firms include:

⁕St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 214 E. Second St. Port Clinton, OH Coburn, Barnum, Benes & Hubbell

⁕St. Paul's Episcopal Church of East Cleveland, 15837 Euclid Ave. East Cleveland, OH Coburn,Barnum, & Benes