By: James Bright,
Chester County Historian
Hubert Thomas McGee was an architect born on June 7, 1864, in Jacks Creek, Tennessee. His father was Dr. Thomas H. McGee a physician who practiced in Henderson for many years. His mother was Sarah Isabella Tabler McGee. After high school, Hubert studied with architect Reuben Heavner in Jackson, Tennessee. In 1887, he worked for architect E.C. Jones in Memphis. In 1893, he went to St. Louis for four years before returning to Jackson for a time. In 1909, he came back to Memphis to stay and became a leading architect of the city. In Jackson he drew plans for the YMCA building and some of the most beautiful homes of that city. In Henderson he designed the county courthouse, Henderson High School, Georgie Robertson Christian College, Old Main Administration Building, several dormitories and several fine residences. In Savannah he designed the Hardin County Courthouse alone with several buildings in the Savannah Historic District. In Memphis he was the architect of the Greenstone Apartments, Union Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, St. Paul Methodist Episcopal Church, various schools, many fine homes and apartment buildings. Perhaps the greatest achievement of Mr. McGee’s career was the home of Clarence Saunders, founder of the Piggly Wiggly grocery store chain, which is now known as the Memphis Pink Palace. He termed this design as “Romanesque American Rambling Design” built with pink and grey Georgia marble with a green tile roof. In his professional life, McGee was a member of the Tennessee Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the Architects League of Memphis. In his personal life, Hubert McGee married Miss Mollie Clay Barlow, who was a schoolmate of his boyhood days, in Savannah, Tennessee. On August 1, 1889, they had two sons who were Hubert Ralph McGee (1890-1960) and Harold Barlow McGee (1903-1907). The couple were consistent members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in which Mr. McGee was a trustee. Fraternally he was a Master Mason with the DeSoto Lodge of Memphis. Mollie died on March 8, 1946, and Hubert passed shortly after on May 26, 1946. They are buried in the Henderson City Cemetery.
