Smithey & Boynton, Architects & Engineers Records,

Smithey & Boynton, Architects & Engineers, was an architecture firm in Roanoke, Virginia, established in 1935 by Louis Phillipe Smithey and Henry B. Boynton. The firm closed during World War II for a few years while Boynton served in the Army Corps of Engineers. After Smithey's death in the 1970s, Boynton partnered with Kenneth L. Motley, who began his career as a draftsman with the firm. In 1992, a year following Boynton's death, Motley acquired Smithey & Boynton and renamed the firm Motley + Associates.

Smithey & Boynton designed several structures over the years, including, in Roanoke, Christ Episcopal Church, the South Roanoke Fire Station, the Shenandoah Life Building, McClanaham Street Office Building, and the American Theater Building. The firm also designed Lane Stadium at Virginia Tech. The firm became best known for building public schools, even using the same basic layout for numerous schools. Smithey & Boynton had nearly 150 school design commissions during the period of 1945-1953 in at least 19 counties and 10 cities.

Henry B. Boyton Henry B. Boynton was born in West Chicago, Illinois, in 1899 and grew up in Amelia County, Virginia. He graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1921 with a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering and then again in 1923 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. He then spent a year (1923-1924) at the University of Illinois in Urbana taking architecture classes. He became a registered architect in Virginia in 1930 (he later registered in West Virginia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania).

From 1924 to 1928, Boynton worked as a draftsman at Carneal & Johnston, Architects & Engineers, in Richmond, Virginia. In 1929 he worked as an associate with Louis Phillipe Smithey, Architect & Engineer, in Roanoke, Virginia. In 1935 he and Smithey became partners and formed Smithey & Boynton, Architects & Engineers, in Roanoke. Boynton became senior partner of the firm when Smithey retired in 1963.

Associations with which Boynton was affiliated include the Virginia Chapter (later changed to the Virginia Society & Blue Ridge Chapter) of the American Institute of Architects from 1938 to his death. He served on the board of directors in 1952, 1953, and 1956, as vice-president in 1954, and president in 1955. He was a member of the State Registration Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, and Land Surveyors, as a Governor's appointee, from 1962-1972 (President of the Board in 1967). He received a distinguished service award in 1980, and the Noland Award in 1989, both from the Virginia Society & Blue Ridge Chapter of the AIA.

Boynton served in the Army Corps of Engineers during WWII and completed his career as a colonel. He was a member of the Virginia Tech Alumni Board of Directors from 1969 to 1979 and Chair of its Annual Fund Committee from 1973 to 1979. He served on the Board of the VPI Educational Foundation, Inc., from 1978 to 1982. In 1976 Boynton received the Virginia Tech Alumni Distinguished Service.

Boynton died on September 13, 1991, at the age of 92, at his home in Roanoke.

Louis Phillipe Smithey Louis Philippe Smithey was born in Mecklenburg County, Virginia on June 7, 1890 to William Rosser Smithey and Mannie Jane Elizabeth Greene. He earned his bachelor and master's degrees at Randolph-Macon College in 1909 and 1910, respectively. He was an instructor and special student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute from 1910 to 1914 and a special student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1914-1915. He was registered both as an architect and as a civil engineer.

Smithey was a member of Phi Beta Kappa as an alumnus of Randolph-Macon College. He was a registered architect in Virginia and West Virginia. A fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), he served as president of the Virginia chapter of AIA (1940). He married Dorothy Terrill on June 11, 1938, and they had a daughter, Nancy Terrill Smithey, on March 10, 1940. He and his family lived in Roanoke.

Smithey worked as a draftsman and contracting engineer for Virginia Bridge & Iron Company in Roanoke from 1916-1918. After serving in the army in World War I, he was contracting engineer for Virginia Bridge & Iron Company again in 1919-1920. He practiced as Louis P. Smithey from 1920-1922, as Smithey & Tardy from 1922-1927, and again as Louis P. Smithey from 1927-1935. The Smithey & Boynton partnership was formed in 1935 with Henry B. Boynton. Prior to World War II the firm served as consulting architects for the Roanoke City School Board and Roanoke County School Board for approximately eight years and,in addition, handled school buildings in Franklin County, Montgomery County, Alleghany County, Pulaski County, and in the City of Waynesboro.

During World War II (1942-1945), Smithey served in the army as Lt. Colonel. After World War II Smithey & Boynton were commissioned as architects or consulting architects on public school work in Virginia valued at approximately $31,000,000.00. This work was distributed in twenty- five School Divisions of the state. Smithey retired from professional practice in 1963.

He died on August 19, 1966.