Newton J. Tharp

[1] He was the namesake of the Newton J. Tharp Commercial School (1908–1952) on Grove Street in San Francisco.

Newton James Tharp was born on July 28, 1867, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.

[4] His family moved in 1874 to Petaluma, California, where his childhood friend was botanist Luther Burbank.

[4] In October 1907, Tharp became the city architect of San Francisco, succeeding the late William Dennis Shea Sr.

[6] After his death, many of the painters associated with the city came together under the leadership of Charles J. Dickson to hold an exhibition in his honor at the California Club in San Francisco, including Maynard Dixon, Arthur F. Matthews, Xavier Martínez, Giuseppe Cadenasso, Eugen Neuhaus, Ernest Peixotto, Will Sparks, Gordon Coutts, Ferdinand Burgdorff, Francis McComas, Orrin Peck, and Theodore Wores.