William Strudwick Arrasmith (July 15, 1898 – November 30, 1965) was an American architect known for his designs for

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

bus stations in the Streamline Moderne style popular in the 1930s and 1940s. Among the over 60 stations he designed are the Cleveland Greyhound Bus Station (1948), the Montgomery, Alabama, Greyhound Bus Station (1951), and the Evansville, Indiana, Greyhound Bus Terminal (1938) which are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

Early life and family

William Arrasmith was born on July 15, 1898, to Thomas and Mary Strudwick at Hillsboro, North Carolina, in the United States. He studied at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

and graduated from the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

with a bachelor of science degree in architecture in 1921. He met his future wife, Elizabeth "Betty" Beam, at Illinois. They had a daughter, Anne.

Career

Arrasmith moved to

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, Kentucky, in 1922 where he worked with Fred Morgan, E.T. Hutchings, and Brinton Davis. In 1929 he went into partnership with Herman Wischmeyer as ''Wischmeyer, Arrasmith, and Elswick''. The firm's notable buildings included the Federal Land Bank and the Louisville Scottish Rite Temple (on which Arrasmith is not credited). He was later in partnership with Bill Tyler as Arrasmith & Tyler which later became ''Arrasmith & Judd'' and then ''Arrasmith, Judd, Rapp & Associates''. As of 2015 the firm was trading as ''Arrasmith, Judd, Rapp, Chovan, Inc.'' He was known for his designs for Greyhound bus stations in the Streamline Moderne style that was popular in the 1930s and 40s. His first design for the company was a terminal in Louisville that opened in 1937. He also designed stations for the company in Columbus, Dayton, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Among the prime examples of his work is the Cleveland Greyhound Bus Station (1948) which is on the

along with eight of his other station designs. In total he designed over 60 stations for the company. Other work by Arrasmith in the Louisville region included the ''Methodist Evangelical Hospital'', the Police School, the science building and medical apartments for the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...

, the 800 Apartments Building, Kentucky Fairgrounds, Kentucky Hotel, Byck's Department Store (St. Matthews and 4th Street),

Kentucky State Reformatory Kentucky State Reformatory (KSR) is a medium-security prison for adult males. The prison is located in unincorporated Oldham County, Kentucky, near La Grange, and about northeast of Louisville. It opened in 1940 to replace the Kentucky State ...

(1939), and buildings for

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...

Buildings Designed by W.S. Arrasmith

Image:800 building.jpg,

The 800 Apartments 800 Tower City Club Apartments, formerly The 800 Apartments, is a 29-story skyscraper in Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. ...

, Louisville, Kentucky Image:Bowman Field, Louisville.jpg, Bowman Field (Kentucky) Administration Building, greater Louisville, Kentucky Image:Administration building architectural rendering Bowman Field Louisville Kentucky 1936.jpg, Bowman Field Administration Building pencil sketch from the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

Image:EAST SIDE AND NORTH FRONT DURING REMODELING - Greyhound Bus Terminal, New York Avenue and Eleventh Street Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC HABS DC,WASH,431-1.tif, Old Greyhound Terminal (Washington, D.C.) during remodeling Image:Former Greyhound Bus Station (1942), 601 N. Howard Street, Baltimore, MD 21201 (24382524781).jpg, Baltimore, Maryland, Greyhound Station (former) Image:Greyhound Bus Terminal, Cincinnati, Ohio (74712).jpg, Greyhound

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

(demolished) (additional stations in Akron and Dayton) Image:Greyhound Bus Terminal (NBY 7138).jpg, Greyhound depot Louisville, Kentucky (demolished) Image:Evansville Indiana - Greyhound Bus Station.jpg, Greyhound Bus Terminal (Evansville, Indiana) (preserved) Image:Central Greyhound Lines Bus Terminal Syracuse New York (Montgomery St at Harrison Street).jpg, Postcard view c. 1940 of the Central Greyhound Lines Bus Terminal Syracuse New York (Montgomery St at Harrison Street) (since demolished) Image:GreyhoundBusStationEvansville2016.png, Greyhound Evansville, Indiana (illuminated) Image:Norfolk Greyhound station 1950s postcard.jpg, Greyhound Norfolk, Virginia, 1950s postcard IMage:Kentucky Hotel, Louisville, Kentucky Postcard c. 1940.png, Postcard view of the Kentucky Hotel in Louisville Kentucky, circa 1940 Image:Louisville Methodist Evangelical Hospital 1960s Postcard.png, Louisville Methodist Evangelical Hospital (1960 postcard). Now operated by Norton Healthcare Image:Helm_Library,_WKU.jpg, Helm Library at

Image:Kentucky_State_Reformatory_La_Grange_KY_c1940.png,

, 1939 Image:Kentucky_State_Hospital_Danville_c1940.png, Kentucky State Hospital, Danville, Ky., c. 1940. now part of

Northpoint Training Center Northpoint Training Center is a medium-security prison located in Boyle County, near Danville, Kentucky. It opened in 1983 and had a prison capacity of 1,256 as of 2006. History Northpoint was originally constructed as a state mental hospital ca ...

Military service

Arrasmith was in the

Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in al ...

while at Illinois and was in command of a veteran company in 1933. Following the

Ohio River flood of 1937 The Ohio River flood of 1937 took place in late January and February 1937. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois, 385 people died, one million people were left homeless and property losses reached $500 million ($10.2 billion ...

he led efforts to build a

pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses floats or shallow-draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maximum load that they can carry. ...

to link Louisville's downtown to the East End. During the Second World War he served with the United States Army 6th Corps Engineers in Europe and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the army reserves.

Death and legacy

Arrasmith died on November 30, 1965, in Louisville, Kentucky."Biographical Sketch of William Strudwick" in John E. Kleber (Ed.) (2003) ''The Encyclopedia of Louisville''. University Press of Kentucky. p. 49. A collection of his papers is held by

The Filson Historical Society The Filson Historical Society, founded in 1884, is a privately supported historical society located at 1310 South 3rd Street in Louisville, Kentucky. The Filson is an organization dedicated to providing continuing adult education in the form of qua ...

. A book by Frank E. Wrenick devoted to Arrasmith's Greyhound designs was published by

McFarland McFarland may refer to: People *McFarland (surname) Places in the United States *McFarland, California, a city *McFarland, Kansas, a city *McFarland, Missouri, a ghost town *McFarland, Wisconsin, a village Other uses * USS ''McFarland'' (DD-237) ...

in 2006.

References

External links

Former Jackson Greyhound TerminalSurviving Greyhound Terminals of W S Arrasmith, USA

Binghamton, New York {{DEFAULTSORT:Arrasmith, William 1965 deaths 1898 births Architects from North Carolina Art Deco architects Military personnel from Illinois People from Hillsborough, North Carolina People from Louisville, Kentucky Streamline Moderne architects University of North Carolina alumni University of Illinois School of Architecture alumni United States Army officers United States Army Corps of Engineers personnel United States Army reservists United States Army personnel of World War II