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Male, Germany/US, born 1867, died 1940-06-10
Associated with the firms network
Bebb and Mendel, Architects; Hetherington, Clements and Company, Architects; McCarthy and Mendel, Architects; Mendel and Buchinger, Architects; Mendel, Louis L., Architect
Résumé
Partner, [Morris M.] Gleichman, [Samuel W.] Lane and Mendel, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1890-1891.
Architect, Louis Mendel, Architect, Los Angeles, CA, 1894.
Partner, McCarthy and Mendel, Architects, Los Angeles, CA, 1895-1896. In 1896, this firm had an office in Rooms #150-151 of the Wilson Building #2 in Los Angeles at 102 South Spring Street. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1896; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 21; FHL Roll Number: 976930, accessed 10/10/2023.)
Partner, Bebb and Mendel, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1901-1914. In 1905, Bebb and Mendel leased Rooms 205-212 in Seattle's Denny Building. (See L.R. Stradley and Company's Seattle Business Directory, 1905, p. 7.)
Principal, Louis L. Mendel, Architect, Seattle, WA, 1914-1923, 1929-1932. Between c. 1914 and 1917, Mendel operated his own office in Room #504 of the Oriental Building. (See R.L. Polk and Company's Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1917, p. 1133.)
Partner, Mendel and Buchinger, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1924-1928; Mendel retired c. 1932 during the worst of the Depression. In 1940, at age 73, Mendel lived in and owned an apartment house at 502 East Pine Street and managed it with his wife, Jane. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: T627_4380; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 40-231,accessed 01/20/2016.)
Parents
His father was German, his mother French.
Professional Service
Member, American Institute of Architects, Washington Chapter, 1910-1911;
Professional Awards
Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA), 1910. Mendel was one of two Washington-state architects to have been elected to Fellowship in the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1910.
High School
The US Census of 1940 indicated that Mendel (and his wife) had completed four years of high school. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: m-t0627-04380; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 40-231, accessed 11/12/2023.)
Relocation
Mendel emigrated to the US from Mayen, Germany, in 1882 when he was fifteen. (The US Census of 1920 indicated he migrated in 1881, and was naturalized in 1889.) He arrived in Tacoma, WA, likely before 1890, where he was naturalized in 1890. He remained here for about two years. After the Depression of 1893 affected building work in WA State, Mendel moved to Los Angeles, CA, where he remained 1894-1898.
In 1895, Mendel resided in the Russ House Hotel, on the northeast corner of East 1st Street and Los Angeles Street. (See Maxwell's Los Angeles, California, City Directory, 1895, p. 965.) A year later, he lived at 313 North Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 21; FHL Roll Number: 976930, accessed 10/12/2023.)
He returned to Seattle in 1899, first working as a draftsman in Charles Bebb's architectural office, then becoming a partner in 1901.
He lived in Seattle from 1899 until his death in 1940. From at least 1920 until 1930, he lived with his wife and two children at 1146 17th Avenue North. He owned this house but paid a mortgage. The household was prosperous enough to pay a houseboy, Pio B. Rivera (born c. 1897 in the Philippines). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: T625_1927; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 173; Image: 954,accessed 01/20/2016; See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: 2497; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0090; Image: 424.0; FHL microfilm: 2342231,accessed 01/20/2016.)
Louis Mendel lived in a hotel at the corner fo 4th Avenue and Cherry Street in 1910. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1910; Census Place: Seattle Ward 4, King, Washington; Roll: T624_1659; Page: 4a; Enumeration District: 0098; FHL microfilm: 1375672, accessed 10/12/2023.)
In 1917, the Mendels lived at 1146 17th Avenue North in Seattle's Cherry Hill neighborhood. (See R.L. Polk and Company's Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1917, p. 1133.) They remained at this location when the 1920 US Census was done. The census listed the architect, his wife Jane and their two sons as living here. They also had a "houseboy," Pio B. Rivera (born c. 1898 in The Philippines), who lived with them. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: T625_1927; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 173, acccessed 10/11/2023.) All four members of the family continued to live here in 1930. The census estimated the house's value at $8,000, about double an average house's worth in Seattle, but less than some neighboring residences worth $20,000 and $40,000. (See Ancestry.com Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0090; FHL microfilm: 2342231, accessed 10/12/2023.)
By 1938, if not earlier, the Mendels had erected an apartment house at 502 East Pine Street in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood.(See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Death Index, 1940-2017, accessed 10/11/2023.) Mendel remained at this address in 1940, living here with Jane and his son "Leonard." Mendel had retired from architectural practice during the early years of the Depression, but continued working as the owner and manager of the apartment building at 502 East Pine Street. A number of architects at this time designed and owned apartment buildings as a means of earning income, particularly in retirement. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: m-t0627-04380; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 40-231, accessed 11/12/2023.)
Parents
His father Emanuel Mendel was born in Germany. His mother has been listed as "Rose Lebeck" although the biographical details of neither parent is clear. The 1910 US Census noted that both had been born in Germany. US Censuses done in 1920 and 1930 indicated that his father had been born in Germany, his mother, in France.
Spouse
He wed Jane Coughlin (born c. 1881 in Mankato, MN-d. 06/26/1957 in Seattle, WA) on 05/12/1910 in New York, NY. Louis was fourteen years older than Jane. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation New York City Department of Records & Information Services; New York City, New York; New York City Marriage Licenses; Borough: Manhattan; Year: 1910, accessed 10/11/2023.) Jane's parents were Patrick Coughlin and Elizabeth Whalen.
Children
He had two children, Louis Leonard Mendel, Jr., (born 09/12/1911 in Seattle, WA) and Herbert Coughlin Mendel (born 08/22/1913 in Seattle, WA-d. 05/28/1938 in Seattle, WA). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington State Births 1907-1920, accessed 10/11/2023 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Death Index, 1940-2017, accessed 10/11/2023.)
Louis Mendel, Jr., became a lawyer.
Biographical Notes
Louis Mendel was a relatively common name in the early twentieth century. Another "Louis Mendel" was also born in 1867 and died on 06/07/1939 in Brooklyn, NY. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Death Index, 1862-1948 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014, accessed 10/12/2023.)
Handwriting on the 1910 US Census is difficult to read, but seems to say that Mendel arrived in either 1881 or 1888. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1910; Census Place: Seattle Ward 4, King, Washington; Roll: T624_1659; Page: 4a; Enumeration District: 0098; FHL microfilm: 1375672, accessed 10/12/2023.) The 1920 US Census indicated that Mendel immigrated to the US in 1881, and was naturalized in 1889. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: T625_1927; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 173, acccessed 10/11/2023.) The 1930 Census listed his date of arrival as 1882. (See Ancestry.com Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0090; FHL microfilm: 2342231, accessed 10/12/2023.)
As per 1896 Los Angeles County voter records, Mendel was Caucasian with a "fair" complexion, gray eyes and brown hair. He stood 5-feet, 6-and-1/2-inches tall. This record indicated that he had registered to vote on 08/01/1896 and been naturalized in Tacoma, WA, on 09/20/1890. His architectural partner Thomas J. McCarthy (born c. 1865 in Canada) in Los Angeles, also was naturalized in Tacoma, although about 18 days prior to Mendel. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1896; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 21; FHL Roll Number: 976930, accessed 10/11/2023.)
PCAD id: 1768
