John S. Flizikowski, Born April 19, 1868 in Starogard Gdanski

Starogard Gdanski

Starogard Gdański is a town in Eastern Pomerania in northwestern Poland with 48,328 inhabitants...

, West Prussia

West Prussia

West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773–1824 and 1878–1919/20 which was created out of the earlier Polish province of Royal Prussia...

 and died July 15, 1934 in Chicago, Illinois, was a notable Chicago architect of residential, church and commercial buildings during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

from the History of Cook County Illinois

José Flizikowski, a prominent architect, with office at room 24, 70 LaSalle street, and residence at 1935 North Fairfield avenue, was born in Pr. Stargard, Province of West Prussia (Germany), on April 19, 1868, and is a son of Joseph and Anna (Paluchowski) Flizikowski. He was reared to manhood in his native country and was educated in the Gymnasium, Pr. Stargard and in the Art Institute of Coeln on the Rhine, and in addition took a technical course of study at the Technical High School of Charlottenburg where he graduated in 1891. Thus unusually well equipped with information and culture, particularly of a technical character, he came to the United States in 1893 and located in Chicago where for eight months he was employed as a draftsman by various institutions and concerns. In 1894 he started in business for himself—that of practical architecture—and his signal success is proof of his skill and fitness for this difficult yet charming art. He has made a specialty of residence, church and school buildings. Among the buildings designed by him are St. Michael’s Lithuanian church on Paulina street, Holy Cross church at Forty-sixth and Wood streets, the parish residence of Holy Cross at Forty-sixth and Wood streets, the Lutheran church on Humboldt and Dickens avenues, St. Florian school at 132d street and Houston avenue, Chicago, the home office and headquarters of the Polish National Alliance of North America, 102 W. Division street. He is a member of St. Philomena’s Roman Catholic church, Catholic Order of Foresters, Western Catholic union, and in politics is a Democrat. He has been twice married: First to Annie Kowalkowski by whom he had one daughter—Helen: second to Elizabeth Dettlaff by whom he had two children: Evelyn and Dorothy.

The Index to the American Contractor's Chicago Building Permit Column, 1898-1912, maintained on the website of The Chicago Historical Society, lists 197 addresses where building permits were issued with John Flizikowski as architect. Among these are the White Eagle Brewing Co. (1911) and Polish Roman Catholic Union of America, home of the Polish Museum of America

Polish Museum of America

The Polish Museum of America is located in West Town, in what had been the historical Polish Downtown neighborhood of Chicago. It is home to a plethora of Polish artifacts, artwork, and embroidered folk costumes among its growing collection...

(1912)

The Chicago Historic Resources Survey (CHRS) of 1995 lists 9 of Flizikowski's buildings that "possess some architectural feature or historical association that made them potentially significant in the context of the surrounding community."