Duluth’s renowned architect, Oliver G. Traphagen, was born in Tarry Town, N.Y. His parents moved to Wisconsin and eventually to St. Paul during his youth.

He was not formally educated in architecture, but instead moved up from carpenter to contractor to architect through experience as an apprentice of noted architect George Wirth.

He came from St. Paul to Duluth in 1881 and soon began designing both private residences and commercial buildings. He worked alone until 1885, when he formed a partnership with his mentor, Wirth. He went back to working alone in 1886.

In 1890, Traphagen invited Minneapolis architect Francis Fitzpatrick to partner with him in Duluth. One of the early buildings they worked on together was the Redstone. Traphagen had lived in the Merchants Hotel (which he had designed) since around 1884. He married Amelia (maiden name unknown) in 1891 and began building his home that year.

Alone, and together with Fitzpatrick, Traphagen designed a majority of Duluth’s finest buildings, many of which are still standing today. His partnership with Fitzpatrick ended in 1896, when Fitzpatrick moved to Washington, D.C. Traphagen also moved that year, to Honolulu, Hawaii. His daughter was ill and needed to live in a warmer climate.

Traphagen continued to work as an architect in Honolulu, designing the famous Moana Beach Club, the first tourist hotel on Waikiki Beach.

In 1907, he moved to Alameda, Calif. He retired there in about 1925, and died seven years later.