L.M. Wirtz (1892-1965)
(Lewis) Milton Wirtz, born Columbus, Texas, received an architecture degree from the University of Texas. Wirtz partnered with an associate, Herald Calhoun, to complete the Guadalupe County Courthouse in Sanguin. Completed in 1935 (the same year as the initial design of the Burnet Courthouse), the Guadalupe courthouse is a 3-story Moderne building. Wirtz established his firm in Houston, working with other architects: Wirtz, Calhoun, & Willauer; Wirtz, Calhoun & Tungate; and Wirtz, Calhoun, Tungate & Jackson. The firms he founded designed buildings on several university campuses, including Rice, Texas A&M, and Baylor. Other principal works include the Memorial Professional Building and garage (1957), the Lighthouse for the Blind, Houston (1953) and the Lackland Air Force Base Hospital (1960). Wirtz also won awards for his residential properties, such as the Moderne style L. D. Allen house in Houston (1935).[15]
The Moderne style of architecture became popular after 1930 and is characterized by elements inspired by the streamlined industrial designs of ships, airplanes, and automobiles. The horizontal emphasis and smooth surfaces of the style are meant to imply the seamless movement of an air stream over the design.[16] The Burnet County Courthouse exhibits the horizontal massing, smooth surfaces, and flat roof with coping associated with the Moderne style.