User:JPRiley/Langdon

Charles A. Langdon (1866–1956) was an American architect in practice in Toledo, Ohio during the first half of the twentieth century.

Life and career
Charles Albert Langdon was born August 5, 1866 in Castleton, Vermont to Charles Langdon and Sarah Jane (Moulton) Langdon. He was educated at Castleton Academy, now part of Castleton University, in Vermont and the manual training school of Washington University in St. Louis, from which he graduated in 1884. There he likely met George S. Mills, who graduated the same year from the same school. He briefly joined the office of architect Jerome B. Legg, but in December of 1884 he moved to Toledo where he was hired as a teacher in the Toledo Manual Training School, now the University of Toledo. He left the school in 1885, and was apparently succeeded by Mills. Langdon then joined engineer Isaac D. Smead as a drafter in Toledo and Kansas City. After six years he returned to Toledo, where he worked as a drafter for the Conant Furniture Company and the Ketcham Furniture Company before opening his own office as an architect in 1897. In 1899 he formed a partnership with architect Otto H. Holhy, known as Langdon & Hohly. This was expanded in 1921 to include engineer Ralph S. Gram as Langdon, Hohly & Gram. Gram and Hohly left the partnership in 1932 and 1941, respectively, and Langdon continued the practice alone, retiring about ten years later.

Langdon was best known during his career as an architect of churches and masonic buildings. He was the architect of several large churches in the Toledo area, and his building for the First Reformed Church, completed in 1915, is the most notable example of Prairie School architecture. As prominent masons, both Langdon and Hohly designed several masonic buildings in Ohio as well as facilities for the Ohio Masonic Home in Springfield.

Langdon was among the founders of the Toledo chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1914, though he did not join the national organization until 1920. He served as chapter secretary from 1920 to 1923 and as president from 1932 to 1935. He was elected a Fellow in 1943.

Personal life
Langdon was married in 1888 to Alice McCreery of Toledo, who died in 1939. They had no children. in retirement Langdon lived in the Ohio Masonic Home in Springfield, where he died January 27, 1956.

Architectural works

 * Epworth United Methodist Church (former), 2484 Parkwood Ave, Toledo, Ohio (1907–08)
 * Masonic Lodge, 181 S Washington St, Tiffin, Ohio (1913–15)
 * First Reformed Church (former), 2024 Cherry St, Toledo, Ohio (1914–15)
 * Rickly Memorial Hospital, Ohio Masonic Home, Springfield, Ohio (1923)
 * First Baptist Church (former), 3016 Collingwood Blvd, Toledo, Ohio (1924–30)
 * Marsh Foundation School, 1229 Lincoln Hwy, Van Wert, Ohio (1924–25, NRHP 1980)
 * Toledo Blade Building, 541 N Superior St, Toledo, Ohio (1926–27)
 * United States Post Office, 127 N Main St, Delphos, Ohio (1933)