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Male, US, born 1867-03-10, died 1941-01-01

Associated with the firms network

Adler and Sullivan, Architects; Whittlesey and Terwilliger, Architects; Whittlesey, Charles F., Architect


Professional History

Résumé

Clerk/Apprentice, Addison and Fiedler, Architects, Hansen Building, 118 Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL, c. 1882-1888. The Chicago City Directory of 1885 (p. 1451) indicated that Whittlesey worked as a clerk at 118 Dearborn Street. At this time, the firm of Addison and Fiedler, Architects, operated at 118 Dearborn. (See advertisement for the Gurney Hot-Water Heater, American Architect and Building News, 12/29/1888, vol. XXIV, no. 679, p. viii.) The book Industrial Chicago included a small biographical entry on Whittlesey and said about his early years in Chicago: "In 1882 he came to Chicago and began his architectural career with Addison & Fiedler, remaining with them until 1890." (See Industrial Chicago The Building Interests Illustrated, [Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1891), p. 642.)

Principal, Charles F. Whittlesey, Architect, Chicago, IL, 1889- ; the Chicago City Directory of 1889 indicated that Whittlesey had his own architectural practice in Chicago at 90 LaSalle Street. (See Chicago City Directory, 1889, p. 1966.)

Draftsman, Louis Sullivan, Chicago, IL; (See Donald Hoffman, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, and the Skyscraper, [Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1998], p. 88.) Following his employment with Sullivan; Chief Architect, Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Company (ATSF), with responsibilities of designing hotels and railroad stations adjacent to the tracks c. 1900. After 1901, Whittlesey worked with architect Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter (1869-1958) who designed many interiors for Fred Harvey Company cafe's and hotels that were situated close by to ATSF depots. They worked together on the Mission Revival Style Alvarado Hotel in Albuquerque, NM, in 1901. Colter retired from Fred Harvey in 1948.

Principal, Charles F. Whittlesey, Architect, San Francisco, CA. Principal, Charles F. Whittlesey, Architect, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1903. In 1903, Whittlesey maintained an office in Room #301 of the Henne Building in Los Angeles. (See Los Angeles Classified Business Directory, 1903, p. 1705.)


Professional Activties

Whittlesey read his paper entitled, "Concrete Construction" at an AIA meeting in late 1905. (Reported 12/1905, LAPL); Charles F. Whittlesey was appointed chair of the committee to revise Los Angeles's building code, especially regarding reinforced concrete construction. (Reported March 1906, LAPL);


Archives

A drawing of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Co. Alvarado Hotel building (Albuquerque, New Mexico), circa 1902 was held at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design and Architecture Museum. (See Online Archive of California, "Finding Aid for the Charles Whittlesey drawing of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Co. Alvarado Hotel building (Albuquerque, New Mexico), circa 1904 0000299," accessed 08/17/2016.) Whittlesey worked with the interior designer Mary Colter on this NM building, torn down in 1970.

Education

High School

It appears that Whittlesey left school at age 15 to work in Chicago.

Personal

Relocation

Born in Alton, IL, Charles F. Whittlesey lived with his large family in Effingham, IL, in 1880. At the time, the Whittleseys had ten members, two parents, three daughters and five sons. In addition, the household included a boarder, T.T. Thompson (born c. 1853 in IN). Around 1882, Whittlesey moved to Chicago, IL, and obtained work in the office of Addison and Fiedler, Architects. He remained in their employ for about 8 years, long enough to serve an apprenticeship. From at least 1885 until 1887, he boarded at 449 South Robey Street in Chicago. (See Chicago City Directory, 1885, p. 1451 and Chicago City Directory, 1887, p. 1644.)

Whittlesey worked for a number of years in Chicago, IL. He obtained the job of Chief Architect fof the Chicago-based Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe (ATSF) Railway in 1900, and began traveling the Western US for the company building depots and hotels. From 1904 until 1991, the ATSF maintained its headquarters in the Railway Exchange Building at 224 South Michigan Avenue.

From at least 1907 until 1910, Charles and Mable Whittlesey lived at 1201 Saint Andrews Place in Central Los Angeles. The US Census of 1910 stated that Whittlesey inhabited this Los Angeles address on 04/15/1910. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1910; Census Place: Los Angeles Assembly District 72, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T624_82; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0208; FHL microfilm: 1374095, accessed 08/23/2016.) The architect also worked extensively in San Francisco following the 1906 Earthquake. Given his skill in designing reinforced concrete buildings, demand for his services for earthquake-resistant construction would have been high after this massive temblor. The 1910 US Census also indicated that he and his family lived in San Francisco, at 823 Market Street 04/28/1910.

A year before he died, Whittlesey and his wife Mabel lived in a rented dwelling at 8519 West 3rd Street in Los Angeles. They paid a rent of $25 per month for the accommodations. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation, Year: 1940; Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T627_404; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 60-194, accessed 08/23/2016.)

He died in Los Angeles, CA, at the age of 73.

Parents

His father, E. Whittlesey (born c. 1828 in CT), taught school in 1880. His mother was Ruby E. Winston. She had ten children.

The family included Charles's siblings: Alice R. (born c. 1851 in WI), Elisha (born c. 1855 in WI), Horace (born c. 1857 in WI), Carrie A. (born c. 1859 in WI), Ruby W. (born c. 1861 in WI), Robert C. (born c. 1870 in IL), and Luther (born c. 1872 in IL). The Whittleseys moved from WI to IL in about 1861. In 1880, Elisha was a law student, Horace, a railroad fireman, Carrie a store clerk, and Ruby, a schoolteacher. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation, Year: 1880; Census Place: Effingham, Effingham, Illinois; Roll: 205; Family History Film: 1254205; Page: 345C; Enumeration District: 133; Image: 0451, accessed 08/23/2016.)

Spouse

He married Edith Mable Cruver Whittlesey (1870-1948) on 05/10/1892 in Chicago, IL. Her mother was Caroline D. Cruver (1840-1927). Charles had a sister, .

Children

With Mable, he had four children, two daughters who never married, Enid Caroline (1895-1981) and Beatrice Helen (1898-1988) and two boys whi did marry, Austin Cruver (1893-1950) and Harold Cruver (1896-1959). Austin would become an architect.



Associated Locations

  • Alton, IL (Architect's Birth)
    Alton, IL

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  • Central Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA (Architect's Death)
    8519 West 3rd Street
    Central Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90048

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PCAD id: 102


NameDateCityState
1230 Taylor Street Apartment Building, Nob Hill, San Francisco, CA 1909San FranciscoCA
2384 Loma Vista Place House, Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CALos AngelesCA
Alamogordo Sanitorium, Alamogordo, NM1904AlamogordoNM
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF), Alvarado Hotel and Albuquerque Depot, Albuquerque, NM1904AlbuquerqueNM
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF), Depot, Berkeley, CA1903BerkeleyCA
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF), Employees Hospital, East Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA1903-1905Los AngelesCA
Babbitt, George J., Sr., and Philomena Wessel, House, Northeast Hill, Flagstaff, AZ 1905FlagstaffAZ
Bartlett, W.S., House, Los Angeles, CA1905Los AngelesCA
Brown, Lucille D., House, Berkeley Square, Los Angeles, CA1909Los AngelesCA
Bryan, E.P., House, Los Angeles, CA1905Los AngelesCA
Crematorium, Los Angeles, CA1904Los AngelesCA
El Rey Hotel, Los Angeles, CA1924Los AngelesCA
Fisher House, San Francisco, CA1908San FranciscoCA
Fred Harvey Company, El Tovar Hotel, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ1903-1905Grand Canyon VillageAZ
Glassell, Alfred, House, Los Angeles, CA1905Los AngelesCA
Hayward Hotel, Downtown, Los Angeles, CA1905Los AngelesCA
Hayward Hotel, Orange Grove Cafe, Los Angeles, CA1929Los AngelesCA
Lindsay, Lycurgus House, Los Angeles, CALos AngelesCA
Livermore-Whittlesey Houses, San Francisco, CA1913San FranciscoCA
Pacific Building, South of Market, San Francisco, CA1907San FranciscoCA
Padre Hotel, Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA1925-1926Los AngelesCA
Riverside School District 96, Central Elementary School, Riverside, IL1897RiversideIL
Temple Auditorium and Office Building, Downtown, Los Angeles, CA 1905-1906Los AngelesCA
Wentworth Hotel Corporation, Wentworth Hotel, Pasadena, CA1905-1907PasadenaCA
West Bank Building, Tenderloin, San Francisco, CA1907-1908San FranciscoCA
Whittlesey, Charles F., House, Chicago, ILChicagoIL
Whittlesey, Charles F., "Reinforced Concrete Construction--Why I Believe in It. by Chas. F. Whittlesey, Architect.", Archiect and Engineer of California, XII: 2, 1908-03. "Pacific Building, San Francisco", Architect & Engineer of California, 93, 05/1908. Gester, William B., "The National Cement Users Convention", Architect and Engineer, 61, 02/1906. "Class A Hotel", Architect and Engineer, 107, 01/1918. Whittlesey, Charles F., "California's Largest Reinforced Concrete Building", Architect and Engineer, 82-86, 03/1906. "Reinforced Concrete Test", Architect and Engineer, 62, 02/1906. "Pacific Building, San Francisco plate", Architect and Engineer of California, 43, 03/1908. Whittlesey, Charles F., "The color scheme of the Pacific Building", Architect and Engineer of California, 34-38, 12/1907. Whittlesey, Charles, "California's largest reinforced concrete building", Architect and Engineer of California, 18-26, 03/1906. "Bartlett, W.S., House article", Architect and Engineer of California, 55, 09/1908. "Los Angeles Crematory Charles E. [sic] Whittlesey, Architect", Architect and Engineer of California, III: 1, 1905-11. "Concrete Construction", Architect and Engineer of California, 43, 12/1905. "Fisher House, San Francisco", Architect and Engineer of California, 59, 10/1908. Woodbridge, Sally B., Woodbridge, John B., Architecture San Francisco: The Guide, 6, 1982. "Hayward Hotel advertisement", Arrowhead, 32, 4/1907. Zaitlin, Joyce, Gilbert Stanley Underwood His Rustic, Art Deco and Federal Architecture, 21-24, 1989. Homes and Gardens of the Pacific Coast, II: 1913. Gebhard, David, Winter, Robert, Los Angeles An Architectural Guide, 391, 1994. "Brown, Lucille D., House, plans", Los Angeles Daily Journal, 2, col 1, 11/29/1909. "Hayward Hotel, Los Angeles, note", Los Angeles Daily Journal, 2, col 1, 9/22/1905. "Hayward Hotel, Los Angeles plans", Los Angeles Daily Journal, 2, col 2, 8/14/1905. "Santa Fe Employees Hospital article", Los Angeles Examiner, 6, 2/18/1904. "Restaurant at Hayward (Hotel) will open this week", Los Angeles Times, part V: 3, 10/20/1929. "Hayward hotel plans addition on 6th street", Los Angeles Times, part V: 1, 3/29/1925. "For W.S. Bartlett", Los Angeles Times, 1, 08/07/1904. "Huntington will be Sheraton no longer", Los Angeles Times, 1, 11/12/1987. "To make more room at top", Los Angeles Times, part V: 1, 9/24/1916. "Santa Fe Employees Hospital", Los Angeles Times, part II: 16, 7/12/1903. "Hayward hotel with annex", Los Angeles Times, part V: 9, 8/30/1925. "Hospital to be opened in July", Los Angeles Times, part II: 1, 3/12/1905. "Padre Hotel plans, Hollywood", Southwest Builder & Contractor, 55, col 2, 1/23/1925. "Padre Hotel initial announcement", Southwest Builder & Contractor, 54, col 2, 11/21/1924. Schmitt, Ronald E., Sullivanesque Urban Architecture and Ornamentation, 268, 2002. Westbank Building A Modern Fireproof Office Building, Who's Who in American Art, 1947, 4: 1947.