Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts & Archives
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Biographical Sketch
Scope and Content Note
Folder List
Cataloguing Information
Processed by
Hilary Adams
Charles Latham
January 1990
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 1 manuscript box
COLLECTION DATES: 1921-1929
PROVENANCE: Gift of Charles William Walters, Indianapolis, IN, February 1987
RESTRICTIONS: None
REPRODUCTION RIGHTS: Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained in writing from the Indiana Historical Society
ALTERNATE FORMATS: None
OTHER FINDING AIDS: None
RELATED HOLDINGS: None
ACCESSION NUMBER: 87.0222
NOTES:
The firm of Latham and Walters was formed in 1909 by two contractors with training as engineers. Charles Latham (1881-1940), a native of Indianapolis, had graduated from the engineering school at Princeton University and had several years experience with the Moore-Mansfield Construction Co. Harrison Walters (c.1878-1960) was born in Hendricks County and graduated from Purdue University.
During the next eighteen years, the firm specialized in commercial and industrial buildings, but also built two important residences, those of auto magnate James A. Allison (c.1910) and of banker Stoughton A. Fletcher (c.1915). The two largest commercial projects were the track elevations at Union Station in Indianapolis in 1917-1919 (which also involved building all of the present Union Station except the original waiting room) and the New Indiana Reformatory at Pendleton (1923). The firm also built two churches, the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer at Fairfield and Park and the Woodruff Place Baptist Church; several warehouses, including a large one for the Holliday Steel Co. (1925); the Pres-O-Lite factory at Speedway; and workshops for Crown Hill Cemetery and for the Pennsylvania Railroad at Richmond.
The partnership was dissolved in 1927. Walters bought the firm and changed its name to Walters Engineering Co. After doing minor jobs for Union Station, the Marmon company, and the School for the Blind, Walters became a consultant, working for Russell B. Moore Co. and then Alden-Meranda. Latham continued work as Charles Latham, Builder. He specialized in residential work, and built homes for Eli Lilly, Nicholas H. Noyes, Herbert M. Woollen, C. Willis Adams, and Bowman Elder. Among several remodelling jobs the most important were on the residences of J. K. Lilly and J. K. Lilly, Jr. (now the Lilly Pavilion of Indianapoilis Museum of Art).
This collection, filling one manuscript box, contains architectural specifications, bills, and contracts. It is arranged chronologically by construction job.
Taken as a whole, the collection makes it possible to reconstruct part of the history of the partnership, which was responsible for several important structures in Indianapolis and its vicinity.
In Folder 1, a 1921 license application by Charles Latham lists all the buildings done by the firm up to that time. In Folders 2-12 are papers concerning buildings constructed by the firm from 1922 to 1927, in some cases listing the architect. Folders 13-15 contain material on work done by Walters Engineering Co. in 1927-1929.
Folder
1 Charles Latham-- application for engineer's registration1921
2 Evangelical Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer 1921-1922
3 Piel Bros. Starch Co. 1921-1922
4 Strohm Realty Co. warehouse 1922
5 Central Public Warehouse 1922
6 New Indiana Reformatory at Pendleton 1923
7 Office records 1923-1926
8 Crown Hill Cemetery 1924
9 Crown Hill Cemetery 1924
10 W. J. Holliday & Co. warehouse 1925
11 Woodruff Place Baptist Church 1926-1929
12 Woodruff Place Baptist Church 1926-1929
13 Tunnel for Indiana School for the Blind 1927
14 Marmon Motor Car Co. 1927
15 Walters Engineering Co.-- miscellaneous papers 1929
MAIN ENTRY: Latham & Walters (Construction firm)
SUBJECT ENTRIES: Latham & Walters (Construction firm)
Latham, Charles, 1881-1940
Walters, Harrison, ca. 1878-1960
Walters Engineering Co., Inc. (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Indiana State Reformatory (Pendleton, Ind.)
Indiana School for the Blind
Woodruff Place Baptist Church (Indianapolis, Ind.)
English Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer (Indianapolis, Ind.)
W.J. Holliday & Co. (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Marmon Motor Car Co.
Central Public Warehouse Co. (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Piel Bros. Starch Co. (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Strohm Realty Co. (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Business records--Indiana--Indianapolis
Engineering firms--Indiana--Indianapolis
Engineers--Indiana--Indianapolis
Engineering contracts--Indiana--Indianapolis
Construction industry--Indiana--Indianapolis
Construction industry--Job descriptions--Indiana--Indianapolis
Construction industry--Licenses--Indiana--Indianapolis
Construction industry--Specifications--Indiana--Indianapolis
Construction contracts--Indiana--Indianapolis
Building--Indiana--Indianapolis
Buildings--Indiana--Indianapolis--Design and construction
Commercial buildings--Indiana--Indianapolis--Design and construction
Industrial buildings--Indiana--Indianapolis--Design and construction
Architecture--Indiana--Indianapolis
Architecture--Indiana--Indianapolis--Designs and plans
Architecture--Specifications--Indiana--Indianapolis
Churches--Indiana--Indianapolis--Design and construction
Prisons--Indiana--Pendleton--Design and construction
Warehouses--Indiana--Indianapolis--Design and construction
Crown Hill Cemetery (Indianapolis, Ind.)
END