Pioneer Information
Born in 1875 and educated in his native France, Urbanski immigrated to the United States around 1902 and subsequently adopted his mother’s maiden name, Morell.
Morell spent some of his early career in New York at the office of Charles W. Leavitt, Jr, where he met another young landscape architect, Arthur R. Nichols. While with Leavitt, the two collaborated on many projects including a design for the Chester Congdon estate in Duluth, Minnesota. In 1909, Morell and Nichols formed a partnership and relocated to open an office in Minneapolis, Minnesota, capitalizing on their local relationships and anticipating the growth of a new market. Co-worker Chandler Fairbanks characterized Morell as an artistic, creative, theoretical designer with high ideals, a hot temper, and little patience.
Morell worked for many years as a consultant to the Minneapolis City Planning Department and served as member and secretary of the Minneapolis Planning Commission. In 1922, he
helped prepare plans for a new civic center development in Minneapolis. He also designed other city and civic center plans for Ojibwa, Wisconsin and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He was an active member of the Real Estate Board in Minneapolis.
Anthony Morell died of heart failure in Minneapolis in 1924.
