C. Parker Crowell

C. Parker Crowell (died 1959) was an American architect who practiced in the state of Maine. One of the first Maine architects to become a member of the American Institute of Architects (in 1931), Crowell and his firm would design over 1000 buildings in the course of his career, including many in his home city of Bangor, Maine.^[1] The firm Crowell co-founded is still in business as WBRC Architects.

Crowell and John F. Thomas founded Thomas & Crowell in 1902 in Bangor. Walter Lancaster was later added as a partner. The Great Fire of 1911 destroyed half of the city’s downtown, including Crowell’s office, but the rebuilding also presented an unprecedented design opportunity (see Great Fire of 1911 Historic District). Crowell and his firm received a number of commissions in the burnt district, including the Eastern Trust Building (1912, extant). An earlier Crowell building, The Tarrantine Club, was among the significant downtown buildings to survive the fire.^[2]

Crowell & Thomas also designed a number of the buildings for the University of Maine campus in Orono, Maine, including Oak Hall. Crowell was a graduate of the same university (class of 1898).^[3]

Other major commissions of the firm include the Oak Grove Seminary for Girls in Vassalboro, Maine and the Millinocket, Maine Hospital.^[1]

Crowell served as Vice President of the Maine chapter of the AIA, and became a Fellow of the AIA in 1952. He retired in 1956 as the dean of Maine architects, and by 1970 his name had been dropped from the firm’s title. It would go through a number of additional name changes before becoming WBRC Architects & Engineers in 1989.^[2]

References

1. Lewiston Evening Journal, Dec. 1, 1956, p. 2
2. WBRC Architects, A Twentieth Century History – WBRC Architects Engineers – 1902-2002 (Bangor, Me: WBRC Architects, 2001)
3. WBRC Architects, A Twentieth Century History – WBRC Architects Engineers – 1902-2002 (Bangor, Me: WBRC Architects, 2001).