Sheldon S. Williams

Sheldon S. Williams, Architect: Born, October 15, 1946 in Leonia, NJ, and a longtime resident of Syracuse, NY, died, at University Hospital in Syracuse, NY, on December 18, 2023, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. He was 77.

Sheldon Williams was trained as a “modern” architect, but “fortunately received a solid grounding in the history of architecture from the late Professor Harley J. McKee at Syracuse University,” where Sheldon graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1972. He embraced the goals of historic preservation while achieving equal facility working in all styles of architecture, including the “modern.”
Sheldon's historic preservation work included numerous National Register projects in and around Syracuse, and other towns in surrounding Onondaga, Oneida, Jefferson, and Cortland, counties, among others. Of particular note is the work he performed as Planner and Lead Architect on Madison Barracks, an 1812, National Register, “planned historic resort community” at Sackets Harbor on Lake Ontario. Of particular pride was his work in the renovation of the well-known Stickley house in Syracuse, and a number of renovations on historic homes in the Hawley-Green Historic District. These included work in the styles of Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire and Queen Anne, all of which he was conversant in.

Besides his residential practice, his extensive design and consulting resume’ included restaurants, hotels, commercial and industrial buildings, public housing and on building and zoning codes, as well as consulting services in historic preservation to other design professionals. He was a lifelong admirer of the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and had been accepted into Wright’s School of Architecture at Taliesen, but opted instead for Syracuse University School of Architecture. From childhood, he loved to draw, and his architecture career actually began, working summers of his junior and senior years in high school for Architect Sidney Schenker, in Paterson, NJ.

Sheldon Williams was active in politics from his early activism against the Vietnam War, an activisim that continued right up to his final days concerning the Community Grid alternative for replacement of I-82 through downtown Syracuse. He was an advocate for the rights of the less fortunate right up to his last days.

Before his passing, he asked that donations in his memory be sent to the nonprofit: Onondaga Historical Association, OHA Archival Collection, 321 Montgomery St, Syracuse, NY 13202

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