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User:JPRiley/Charlton

{{Short description|American architect (1864–1935)}}

{{Infobox architect

|name = D. Fred Charlton

|image =

|image_size =

|caption =

|nationality = United States

|birth_date = {{Birth date|1856|5|9}}

|birth_place = Wrotham, Kent, England

|death_date = {{Death date and age|1941|1|25|1856|5|9}}

|death_place = Marquette, Michigan

|practice = Scott & Charlton;
Charlton & Gilbert;
Charlton, Gilbert & Demar;
Charlton, Gilbert & Kuenzli;
Charlton & Kuenzli

|significant_buildings=

|significant_design =

|awards = Fellow, American Institute of Architects (1893)

}}

File:Ishpeming Municipal Building 2009.jpg, designed by Charlton in the Richardsonian Romanesque style and completed in 1891.]]

File:J Vivian Jr and Company Building Laurium Michigan 2021-4567.jpg in Laurium, designed by Charlton & Gilbert in the Italian Renaissance Revival style and completed in 1894.]]

File:2009-0617-CityHall-Hancock.jpg, designed by Charlton, Gilbert & Demar in the Flemish Renaissance style and completed in 1899.]]

File:2009-0618-UP-MarquetteCtyCourthouse.jpg, designed by Charlton, Gilbert & Kuenzli in the Neoclassical style and completed in 1904.]]

File:College Club House and Gymnasium Houghton MI.jpg of the Michigan Technological University, designed by Charlton & Kuenzli in the Tudor Revival style and completed in 1906.]]

File:Lake Linden Historic District 2009e.jpg, designed by Charlton & Kuenzli in the Italian Renaissance Revival style and completed in 1912.]]

File:Longyear Building Marquette MI 2009.jpg in Marquette, designed by Charlton & Kuenzli in the Tudor Revival style and completed in 1917.]]

D. Fred Charlton {{post-nominals|list=FAIA}} (May 9, 1856 – January 25, 1941) was an English-born American architect in practice in Marquette, Michigan, from 1887 until his retirement in 1918. From 1896 he also maintained an office in Milwaukee, which was eventually combined into the firm now known as Eppstein Uhen Architects. In retirement Charlton nurtured his hobby of photography and was responsible for introducing new photographic techniques to the region.

Life and career

Demetrius Frederick Charlton, known professionally as D. Fred Charlton, was born May 9, 1856, in Wrotham, Kent, England, to Thomas Charlton, a tenant farmer, and Frances Maria Grevis-James.

He settled in Detroit {{circa|1877}} at the age of 21. He worked for several Detroit architects, including Gordon W. Lloyd and William E. Brown, before joining the firm of William Scott & Company in 1884. In 1887 the Scott firm was chosen to design the new Marquette Branch Prison, and Charlton was sent to Marquette to supervise construction of the project and manage a branch office. In 1889 Charlton was made a special partner in the Marquette office, which was renamed Scott & Charlton. In 1890 he separated from the Scott firm and opened his own office, making him the first professional architect to settle permanently in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

In 1892 Charlton was joined by the first of his three partners, R. William Gilbert. Gilbert had come from Boston and his own work had included the William H. Long Memorial in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. Late that year they opened the first of several branch offices, in Superior, Wisconsin, was established under Gilbert's management; it closed in 1894. In 1895 they were joined by Edward Demar, one of the architects of the Marquette City Hall, completed earlier that year. In 1896 Gilbert established another, more permanent, branch office in Milwaukee. He was joined there by Demar in 1899, though he withdrew from the partnership in 1901 after briefly managing short-lived offices at Houghton and Sault Ste. Marie. In 1903 Edwin O. Kuenzli, a drafter in the Milwaukee office, became a partner. Gilbert also withdrew in 1904, and the firm was renamed a last time to Charlton & Kuenzli, with Charlton in Marquette and Kuenzli in Milwaukee.

Personal life

Charlton was married twice. He married first in 1884 to Alice Rosa Thompson, a cousin, in England. She died in 1885 of complications from childbirth. He married second in 1887 to Alice H. Grylls, sister of H. J. Maxwell Grylls, a colleague and later a partner in the Scott firm and even later a cofounder of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls. He had three children, all sons, one with his first wife and two with his second.

Legacy

Charlton's practice in the Upper Peninsula coincided with major economic growth in the region. The major industry in the region was the mining of iron and copper, both of which were shipped from the port of Marquette.

At least thirteen works designed by Charlton and his partners have been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places, and others contribute to listed historic districts.

Through a series of mergers, the Milwaukee office of the Charlton firm has survived. In 1919 Kuenzli combined the surviving office with that of William G. Herbst, who had established his firm in 1907, to form Herbst & Kuenzli. Kuenzli retired in 1942. With further changes in partnership, the firm was renamed William G. Herbst & Associates in 1947, Herbst, Jacoby & Herbst in 1955 and Herbst, Jacoby & Jacoby in 1964. In 1980 the firm merged with Mark P. Pfaller & Associates to form Pfaller, Herbst & Associates. The combined firm was further renamed Pfaller, Herbst & Eppstein in 1984, Herbst, Eppstein, Keller & Chadek in 1985, Eppstein Keller Uhen in 1991 and Eppstein Uhen Architects in 1995. The firm claims Herbst's date of 1907 as its founding.

Architectural works

=Scott & Charlton, 1889–1890=

=D. Fred Charlton, 1890–1892=

=Charlton & Gilbert, 1892–1895 and 1901–1903=

=Charlton, Gilbert & Demar, 1895–1901=

  • 1897 – Ontonagon County Courthouse,{{efn|name=NRHP}} 601 Trap St, Ontonagon, Michigan[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/25340344 Ontonagon County Courthouse NRHP Inventory-Nomination Form] (1980)
  • 1898 – Garfield School,{{efn|name=NRHP}} 510 E Spruce St, Sault Ste. Marie, MichiganGarfield School NRHP Registration Form (2022)
  • 1898 – Johnson Vivian Jr. house,{{efn|name=Laurium}} 240 Pewabic St, Laurium, MichiganKathryn Bishop Eckert, Buildings of Michigan (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 489.
  • 1899 – Hancock Town Hall and Fire Hall,{{efn|name=NRHP}}{{efn|name=Hancock|A contributing resource to the NRHP-listed Quincy Street Historic District.}} 399 Quincy St, Hancock, MichiganKathryn Bishop Eckert, Buildings of Michigan (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 477.
  • 1900 – Smith–Dengler House,{{efn|name=NRHP}} 58555 US-41, Wolverine, Michigan[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/25339409 Smith–Dengler House NRHP Registration Form] (2008)
  • 1900 – Wright Block,{{efn|name=Hancock}} 100-102 Quincy St, Hancock, Michigan[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/25339405 Quincy Street Historic District NRHP Inventory-Nomination Form] (1988)
  • 1901 – Gowan Block,{{efn|name=NRHP}} 416 Ashmun St, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/25339164 Gowan Block NRHP Registration Form] (2010)
  • 1901 – St. Anne's Catholic Church, 25725 Scott St, Calumet, MichiganKathryn Bishop Eckert, Buildings of Michigan (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 487.
  • 1902 – Escanaba City Hall (former),{{efn|name=Escanaba}} 209 S 11th St, Escanaba, Michigan

=Charlton, Gilbert & Kuenzli, 1903–1904=

  • 1903 – Rathfon Building,{{efn|name=Escanaba}} 623 Ludington St, Escanaba, MichiganKathryn Bishop Eckert, Buildings of Michigan (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 543.
  • 1904 – Marquette County Courthouse,{{efn|name=NRHP}} 400 S 3rd St, Marquette, MichiganKathryn Bishop Eckert, Buildings of Michigan (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012): 505.

=Charlton & Kuenzli, 1904–1918=

Notes

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References

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