William Nowland Van Powell Explained

William Nowland Van Powell (1904–1977), sometimes known professionally as William Van Powell[1] or Nowland Van Powell[2] was an American architect, painter, and historian from Memphis, Tennessee.[3]

Architect

In the 1930s, the Greyhound Lines bus company built many bus stations in the then-popular Streamline Moderne style. William Nowland Van Powell designed at least four of them. Working with George Mahan, Jr. in 1939, he was the architect of the Greyhound Bus Station in Jackson, Mississippi.[4] Working with Ben Watson White, he designed the Blytheville Greyhound Bus Station in 1937.[5]

He is also credited as the designer of two nearly-identical Greyhound Half-Way Stations: the Greyhound Half-Way House in Waverly, Tennessee,[6] that has been preserved, and another in Flat River, Missouri that has been substantially remodeled into a laundromat.[7]

Van Powell worked in other architectural styles for other clients. In 1927, he was the architect of the Venetian-inspired Memphis Steam Laundry building, formerly at 941 Jefferson Ave., Memphis, demolished in 2009.[2]

Along with Henry Ehrensing, he was the architect of the Grand Palace Hotel, New Orleans (built originally as Claiborne Towers), and promoted by its developer as "likely to be one of the greatest buildings the South has ever seen."[8] At the time, Claiborne Towers was the South's largest apartment project, with a planned 1036 units that included air conditioning.[9]

He was also the architect of Memphis' Farnsworth Building (now the Memphis Business Journal Building), which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[1] [10]

Buildings designed

Maritime art

Van Powell was the author of The American Navies of the Revolutionary War,[11] a collection of his paintings, with descriptive notes by the artist published in 1974 by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York.[12]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Farnsworth Building, Memphis. gigapan.com. 5 April 2018. en.
  2. Web site: Lauderdale. Vance. The Memphis Steam Laundry. Memphis Flyer. 5 April 2018. en. Why does our fine city have such a penchant for tearing down some of the coolest-looking buildings ever constructed? Case in point, the Venetian-inspired Memphis Steam Laundry building, designed by noted architect Nowland Van Powell.
  3. Book: McNabb. W. R.. The Architecture of William Nowland Van Powell: Southern Classicist, 1904-1977. 1977. 5 April 2018. en.
  4. Web site: Greyhound Bus Station, December 22, 1939.. Flickr. 5 April 2018. en-us. George Mahan Jr. - Nowland Van Powell Architects, Memphis Tenn..
  5. Web site: Asset Detail. npgallery.nps.gov. 9 April 2018. en.
  6. Web site: NRHP Asset Detail. npgallery.nps.gov. 8 April 2018. en.
  7. Web site: Missouri Greyhound Bus Stations RoadsideArchitecture.com. roadarch.com. 9 April 2018.
  8. News: Barrow. Bill. Failed hotel at Canal and Claiborne will leave decades of lost potential in the dust when it blows up. 5 April 2018. NOLA.com. The Times-Picayune. 13 November 2011. http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2011/11/failed_hotel_at_canal_and_clai.html.
  9. Web site: Rylance. Keli. docomomo_nola: Claiborne Towers 1950. docomomo_nola. 5 April 2018. 14 January 2011. In December 1950, architects William Nowland Van Powell (1904-1977) and Henry Ehrensing (1907-1985) received attention for their design of a new luxury apartment complex to be located at the intersection of South Claiborne Avenue and Canal Street (bounded by Cleveland and S. Derbigny). At the time, Claiborne Towers was the South's largest apartment project, with a planned 1036 units that included air conditioning. Construction of the 17-story $10 Million building had begun in April of 1950, after a lease agreement for the site was negotiated with Tulane University. By 1952, Claiborne Towers featured a beauty shop, lingerie boutique, cleaners, and a lounge on its ground floor. Its lobby was apportioned with terrazzo flooring and black walnut panels, and a mural depicting the progress of New Orleans was planned for the 62-ft wall expanse above the structure's Otis elevator bank..
  10. Web site: Historic Memphis Buildings ...and notable Businesses. historic-memphis.com. 5 April 2018.
  11. Book: Powell. Nowland van. The American Navies of the Revolutionary War: Painting by Nowland Van Powell. 9780399111839. 1974. Putnam's Sons. 5 April 2018. en.
  12. Web site: 9780399111839 - The American Navies of the Revolutionary War: Paintingsby Nowland Van Powell. www.biblio.com. 5 April 2018. en.

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