Rocheford & Gould


Rocheford & Gould were brick manufacturers and construction contractors in early Omaha, Nebraska. The firm built numerous brick structures during Omaha's transition from the wooden buildings of Nebraska's territorial days to more permanent structures. The buildings the firm built included breweries, schools, packing houses, business blocks, Vaudeville theaters, street car barns and power houses, and civic buildings. Many of the structures the firm built have been demolished but a few of their earliest structures still exist and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

History

William Rocheford was born in St. Albans, Vermont on February 22, 1851. As the son of a mason, Rocheford learned the construction trade early. Shortly after arriving in Omaha in 1879, Rocheford went to work with Henry Livesey, a brickmaker and contractor. In 1880, Rocheford entered the brickmaking and general contracting business with Frank P. Gould, a native of New York. Their new firm, Rocheford & Gould, established a brickyard at Thirteenth and Frederick Streets in Omaha, Nebraska. By 1892 it was reported that the firm's kilns were making 50,000 bricks a day. In 1918, Herman Kritenbrink leased the operation. The brickyard was abandoned in 1928 when the clay ran out. Finally in 1945, the 125-foot smokestack was demolished in a controlled blast after the Omaha Street Commissioner deemed it a nuisance and ordered its removal.
The firm of Rocheford & Gould dissolved in 1906, although neither partner retired from the construction business. Frank Gould took over the operation of the brickyard operation and formed a commercial construction company with his son. William Rocheford also formed a construction company with his son, but unlike the Goulds, Rocheford's new company was focused primarily on building residential rental properties.
William Rocheford died on July 10, 1913 when the automobile he was driving was hit by a street railway car. Among the pallbearers at William Rocheford's funeral were his former business partner, Frank P. Gould, and George Fisher, a partner in the Omaha architectural firm of Mendelssohn, Fisher and Lawrie.
Frank Gould died on January 24, 1916, after a long illness.

Notable buildings

;works by Hadden, Rocheford & Gould
;works by Rocheford, Gould & Gladden
;works by Rocheford & Gould
;works by Rocheford & Son
;works by F. P. Gould & Son