Belleville Warehouse, New Bedford, 1916.
Praray & Co. ad, 1898.

C. R. Makepeace & Company, established in 1889, was a nationally active firm of mill architects based in Providence, Rhode Island. It was dissolved in 1944.

Charles R. Makepeace

Founder Charles R. Makepeace was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina on May 20, 1860. He attended Duke University, then known as Trinity College, but left without graduating in 1880. He then worked on a number of cotton mills in Randolph County, before eventually making his way to Rhode Island.[1] He first practiced as a member of D. M. Thompson & Company in Providence. When David M. Thompson left the partnership to manage mills for B. B. & R. Knight, Makepeace formed a new partnership, Hall & Makepeace, with established architect Clifton A. Hall. This lasted from 1884 to 1886. Hall was prominent as both a designer of industrial buildings as well as those that normally made up an architect's practice.

In 1886 Makepeace left, and opened his own office.[2] He established C. R. Makepeace & Company in 1889.[3] Circa 1892 he made his designer, Charles A. M. Praray, a partner.[4] He added new associates when Praray left in 1898. Makepeace's son, the MIT-trained C. Salisbury Makepeace, joined the office in 1916, upon graduating.[5] Makepeace was an active member of Central Congregational Church in Providence.[6] Makepeace was a member of the Providence common council from the second ward from 1904 to 1910.[7]

Later history

After Makepeace's death in 1926, the company was presumably managed by C. Salisbury Makepeace. Henry A. McClean purchased the firm in 1928, and managed it until 1944, when it was dissolved. McClean died in West Warwick in 1950.[8] C. Salisbury Makepeace died in August 1949.[9]

Charles A. M. Praray

Charles Praray first emerges as the chief designer and construction engineer of the Makepeace firm, and was made a partner circa 1892.[4] As designer, in 1894, he patented what was known as "Praray's Improved Construction", a system of mill construction which separated the structure of the roof and floors of a mill from that of the walls, allowing much more daylight to enter the building. Visually, Praray's design may be most noted for its unusual window patterns, which emerge from the brick piers in a zig-zag pattern.[10] Only five of these mills have been documented as being built, but Chas. A. M. Praray & Company touted it in advertisements for many years. Prior to its demolition around 2014, the Selma Cotton Mill of 1896 in Alabama was the best-preserved example of Praray's mill design.[11] The only surviving example with walls intact is one of the Holt mills in Haw River, North Carolina.

Praray has also been identified as the designer of Makepeace & Co.'s Petersburg Silk Mills in Scranton, Pennsylvania, designed in 1897. He prepared "several sets" of designs, one of which was likely to be a Praray's Improved Construction design. However, this was rejected in favor of a conventional design.[12]

In 1898 Praray left to establish his own office, Chas. A. M. Praray & Company, with William Whittam, Jr. The firm had two offices, one at Providence, and one at Charlotte, North Carolina, managed by Whittam. The partnership existed until about 1909. Praray then took his son, Charles W. Praray, into partnership, as C. A. M. Praray & Son. He died in 1910.[13]

Projects

Charles R. Makepeace, 1886-1889

C. R. Makepeace & Company, 1889-1944

References

  1. Edenton Cotton Mill Historic District NRHP Nomination. 1999.
  2. Jordy, William H. and Christopher P. Monkhouse. Buildings on Paper: Rhode Island Architectural Drawings, 1825-1945. 1982.
  3. American Elite and Sociologist Bluebook. Ed. Thomas William Herringshaw. Chicago: American Blue Book, 1922.
  4. 1 2 Fibre and Fabric 19 March 1898: 52. Boston.
  5. Technology Review Nov. 1916: 969. Cambridge.
  6. "Historical manual of the Central Congregational Church, Providence, R.I. 1852-1902". Internet Archive. 1902.
  7. Providence City Manual (Providence: City of Providence, 1917)
  8. Engineering News-Record 14 Sept. 1950: 67. New York.
  9. Phillips Bulletin Winter 1950: 22. Andover, MA.
  10. Kidder, Frank E. The Architect's and Builder's Pocket-Book. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1908.
  11. 1 2 Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. AL-184, "Selma Cotton Mill, 218 Morgan Avenue, Selma, Dallas County, AL", 25 photos, 3 photo caption pages
  12. 1 2 Textile America: Silk and Silk Fabrics 27 Nov. 1897: 26. New York.
  13. 1 2 3 Davidson, Lisa Pfueller. "Through the Mill: Documenting the Southern Textile Industry". Historic American Engineering Record 2000. U. S. Department of the Interior.
  14. Building 3 Nov. 1888: 3. New York.
  15. Fox, Stephen. Galveston Architecture Guidebook. Houston: Rice University Press, 1996.
  16. Overland Cotton Mill NRHP Nomination. 2001.
  17. American Machinist 23 April 1891: 10. New York.
  18. "GBR.B". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  19. Bellerose, Robert R. Images of America: Woonsocket Revisited. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2004.
  20. Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. GA-99, "Dixie Cotton Mill, 710 Greenville Street, La Grange, Troup County, GA"
  21. Engineering News 31 Oct. 1895: 145. New York.
  22. "The Whitman Mills". Fibre and Fabric 29 June 1895: 219. Boston.
  23. American Manufacturer and Iron World 27 March 1896: 449. Pittsburgh.
  24. Barker, John. "Cotton Mill Destroyed by Fire". http://patch.com/georgia/douglasville/. 12 May 2012.
  25. American Wool and Cotton Reporter 28 July 1898: 19. New York.
  26. Engineering News 19 Jan. 1899: 23. New York.
  27. Edenton Cotton Mill Historic District NRHP Nomination. 1998.
  28. Electrical World and Engineer 11 May 1901: 786. New York.
  29. Engineering Record 2 Aug. 1902: 119. New York.
  30. American Wool and Cotton Reporter 18 Sept. 1902: 1223. Boston.
  31. Engineering News 7 Aug. 1902: 51. New York.
  32. "NBE.AW". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  33. Fibre and Fabric 25 Nov. 1905: 18. Boston.
  34. Fibre and Fabric 15 April 1905: 12. Boston.
  35. Street Railway Journal 1906: 38.
  36. "NBE.631". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  37. Fibre and Fabric 15 Dec. 1906: 22. Boston.
  38. Fibre and Fabric 24 Nov. 1906: 13. Boston.
  39. Fibre and Fabric 28 Dec. 1907: 10. Boston.
  40. Fibre and Fabric 10 July 1909: 10. Boston.
  41. "NBE.632". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  42. "Fine Yarn Co". Fibre and Fabric 21 May 1910: 5. Boston.
  43. American Wool and Cotton Reporter 17 March 1910: 380. Boston.
  44. "ATT.543". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  45. American Wool and Cotton Reporter 1 June 1922: 84. Boston.
  46. Oriental Mills NRHP Nomination. 2005.
  47. Engineering News 25 July 1912: 66. New York.
  48. "United Lace and Braid Co.'s New Factory". Shoe and Leather Reporter 30 Jan. 1913: 20. Boston.
  49. Engineering Record 6 Nov. 1915: 187. New York.
  50. Engineering and Contracting 7 April 1915: 58. Chicago.
  51. Engineering and Contracting 5 May 1915: 45. Chicago.
  52. "One Story of Reinforced Concrete Building Half Acre in Area Built Every Five Days". Engineering News-Record 31 May 1917: 438.
  53. Engineering News 6 July 1916: 10. New York.
  54. Textile World Journal 12 Aug. 1916: 46. New York.
  55. Engineering News 15 March 1917: 131. New York.
  56. Bridgemen's Magazine June 1918: 327. Indianapolis.
  57. "Nashua Manufacturing Co. Dyehouse". Textile World Journal 11 Jan. 1919: 437. New York.
  58. American Contractor 9 Oct. 1920: 46. Chicago.
  59. Textile World 24 June 1922: 69. New York.
  60. American Machinist 8 Dec. 1927: 922h. New York.
  61. Bridgemen's Magazine 1933: 358. Indianapolis
  62. Bridgemen's Magazine 1935: 294. Indianapolis
  63. Engineering News-Record 18 June 1936: 38. New York.
  64. Engineering News-Record 18 Aug. 1938: 49. New York.
  65. Steel 1939: 16. New York.
  66. Engineering News-Record 3 Sept. 1942: 22. New York.
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