Charles L. Thompson and associates is an architectural group that was established in Arkansas since the late 1800s. It is now known as Cromwell Architects Engineers, Inc.. This article is about Thompson and associates' work as part of one architectural group, and its predecessor and descendant firms, including under names Charles L. Thompson,Thompson & Harding,Sanders & Ginocchio, and Thompson, Sanders and Ginocchio.
The firm was the "most prolific architectural firm" practicing in Arkansas in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and produced more than 2,000 buildings. The architectural group used standard and custom designs that both led and evolved with changing architectural taste in Arkansas. The group built a wide range of types of works, including large public buildings, commercial buildings, mansions, and small houses. Many works by Thompson and the associated firms survive and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [2]
Charles Louis Thompson (16 November 1868 – December 30, 1959) [3] was the original head of the firm. Thompson was born in 1868 in Danville, Illinois. Orphaned at age fourteen, he and siblings moved to Indiana, where Charles began work at a mill, and in off hours began to learn drafting. [3] Thompson's son-in-law, Edwin Boykin Cromwell (1909–2001) later headed the firm. [4]
A total of 143 properties in thirty Arkansas counties were nominated for NRHP listing in the 1982 study, "Charles L. Thompson Design Collection Thematic Resources", written by multiple authors. F. Hampton Roy, a Little Rock ophthalmologist, began cataloging the architectural drawings, expecting to complete a book. His collection eventually inspired this study, as Thompson and associates had such influence on Arkansas architecture. The properties listed under this study were selected from review of a large collection of original drawings by Charles L. Thompson, Fred J. H. Rickon, Thomas Harding Jr., Theo Sanders, and Frank Ginocchio. The collection of drawings covered 2500 properties representing a wide range of types and styles geographically distributed over the entire state of Arkansas. The authors wrote: "The 143 structures selected for nomination exemplify the firm's remarkable versatility and productivity from 1896 through 1931," and "Charles L. Thompson was the constant motivating force behind the firm's immense productivity and influence upon the state's built environment. Today the firm he established continues this legacy." [5]
Frank Ginocchio and Theodore M. Sanders, partners since 1919, joined Thompson in partnership in 1927. Both had studied at the University of Illinois and Sanders had studied further at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. They brought design ideas of Prairie Style, influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, and Art Deco architecture to the firm. [5]
Theo Sanders designed several houses in Little Rock's Hillcrest neighborhood. [6]
Architect John Parks Almand worked for the firm during 1912 to 1914 before forming his own practice.
Works (with variations in attribution indicated) include:
Marr & Holman was an architectural firm in Nashville, Tennessee known for their traditional design. Notable buildings include the Nashville Post Office and the Milliken Memorial Community House in Elkton, Kentucky.
William LaBarthe Steele was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois. He is considered a principal member of the Prairie School Architectural Movement during the early 20th century.
Reuben Harrison Hunt, also known as R. H. Hunt, was an American architect who spent most of his life in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is considered to have been one of the city's most significant early architects. He also designed major public building projects in other states. He was a principal of the R.H. Hunt and Co. firm.
Rock Island Depot may refer to:
The Fordyce House is a historic house at 2115 South Broadway in Little Rock, Arkansas. Built in 1904 to a design by noted Arkansas architect Charles L. Thompson, it is believed to be the state's only example of Egyptian Revival residential design. It is two stories in height, with narrow clapboard trim. A recessed porch shelters the main entrance, with the stairs leading up to flanked at the top by two heavy Egyptian columns. The second floor windows are banded in groups of three and the roof has a deep cornice with curved brackets. John Fordyce, for whom it was built, was a prominent businessman and engineer who held numerous patents related to cotton-processing machinery.
The Governor's Mansion Historic District is a historic district covering a large historic neighborhood of Little Rock, Arkansas. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and its borders were increased in 1988 and again in 2002. The district is notable for the large number of well-preserved late 19th and early 20th-century houses, and includes a major cross-section of residential architecture designed by the noted Little Rock architect Charles L. Thompson. It is the oldest city neighborhood to retain its residential character.
Remmel Apartments and Remmel Flats are four architecturally distinguished multiunit residential buildings in Little Rock, Arkansas. Located at 1700-1710 South Spring Street and 409-411 West 17th Street, they were all designed by noted Arkansas architect Charles L. Thompson for H.L. Remmel as rental properties. The three Remmel Apartments were built in 1917 in the Craftsman style, while Remmel Flats is a Colonial Revival structure built in 1906. All four buildings are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and are contributing elements of the Governor's Mansion Historic District.
George Richard Mann was an American architect, trained at MIT, whose designs included the Arkansas State Capitol. He was the leading architect in Arkansas from 1900 until 1930, and his designs were among the finalists in competitions for the capitols of several other states.
Twelve special routes of U.S. Route 63 currently exist. Arkansas and Missouri each contain five, with two in Iowa. There are also five former routings that have been removed from the system.
George M. Coombs was an American architect in practice in Lewiston, Maine from 1874 to 1909.
George Anthony Berlinghof was a German-born architect who designed a number of important buildings in Lincoln and other cities in Nebraska. Some of his surviving works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Highway 31 is a north–south state highway in Central Arkansas. The route of 75.34 miles (121.25 km) runs from U.S. Route 79B (US 79B) near Pine Bluff north across US 165, US 70, Interstate 40 (I-40) and US 64/US 67/US 167 before terminating at Highway 5 near Romance.
Caldwell Hall occupies a central position on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. It is a large, T-shaped two-story brick building with Late Gothic Revival features, which was built in 1928 to a design by the noted Arkansas architectural firm Thompson, Sanders, & Ginocchio. Its central entrance section has Art Deco features in stone panels above the entrance, and fluted stone piers that rise to streamlined finials.
Albert Oscar Clark (1858–1935), commonly known as A.O. Clark, was an American architect who worked in Arkansas in the early 1900s.
Frank W. Gibb was an architect in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Mann & Stern was an architectural partnership in Arkansas of Eugene John Stern (1884-1961) and George Richard Mann (1856-1939).
John Parks Almand was an American architect who practiced in Arkansas from 1912 to 1962. Among other works, he designed the Art Deco Hot Springs Medical Arts Building, which was the tallest building in Arkansas from 1930 to 1958. Several of his works, including the Medical Arts Building and Little Rock Central High School, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)