About Me

ABOUT ME

This blog is not about me.  It is about the life and works of my grandfather William James Carpenter, a talented architect and artist whose career has never been recognized and properly documented. It was with deep sentiment that I studied his painting which he had so aptly named THE FORGOTTEN  MAN  and I decided to try to assure that he would become The Unforgotten Man.

Fortunately, I am retired so that I have been able to devote several thousand hours over the last ten years to researching and recording his life and believe it worthy of sharing with students, architectural historians and researchers preparing articles or registration of his historic buildings as well as the owners of these buildings.

My personal odyssey began when I made  a trip to DeLand to find the association between the Putnam Hotel and a watercolor painting of a hotel signed “Putnam Inn, Deland, Florida, W. J. Carpenter, Architect”.  Although I had known him when I was a child the family had never talked of his past, so I knew little of his career.

It was in DeLand that I discovered that he had been recognized as a prominent architect during the 1920s and had designed many significant buildings in Volusia County.  As a result of that trip I began a fascinating quest to discover and to preserve a part of family and architectural history that I feared was in danger of being lost forever.

Since then, following the trail of his architectural career has led me to the four corners of the continental United States and even to the Mexican border.  In each of these areas I found he had produced and made significant lasting contributions. This was surprising because it had never been discussed within the family. After his catastrophic personal and financial losses due to the “Florida Bust” in the 1920s I think he considered himself a forgotten and unsuccessful man and he would never talk about himself.

As a result of my research I have found that during an active practice period of only about 18 years he produced over 150 projects. His designs ranged from small one-bedroom cottages in Daytona Beach, Florida during the Depression years to elegant mansions on Millionaires’ Row in Pittsburgh during the great days of the Steel City.  There was time along the way to design state-of-the-art fireproof hotels, commercial buildings, and even fair grounds.

I have found that most of his buildings are still standing and in use about 100 years later, and several appear on various listings of Historical Buildings and Places.  Some plans and drawings have been preserved, and a few renderings appear in my collection of over fifty watercolor paintings which he also found time to create.

I have often been asked if I have any of his original drawings.  Unfortunately, there are very few still in existence.  Perhaps this forum will result in the discovery of more of them and I will be more than happy to spread the word if anyone is willing to share them; and I will see that they are properly preserved if anyone will part with them.

I must make a disclaimer at this point–this treatise is not meant as an architectural critique of his work. What I have compiled is just a record of the work in order to show the breadth and magnitude of it-final analysis and evaluation will be left to the professionals on a building by building basis.  I am not a trained architect so my comments about architecture are not necessarily expressed in keeping with terms of the profession. Personal opinions and comments on questionable items are included in parentheses and should not be considered factual, pending further investigation.  If there are mistakes I will humbly correct them if you will bring them to my attention.

John W. (Jack) Carpenter

CONTACTS

I don’t yet know how the interaction is going to work out, but until further notice please make brief comments of general interest in COMMENTS.  For longer dialogues or to send pictures email to chrisnjack5@bellsouth.net or snail mail to address below.  Please include links to related internet recognitions of Wm. J. Carpenter’s career in your comments.

 Jack Carpenter, 290 Cubbedge Road, St. Augustine, Florida 32080