1867-1966

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Biographical Information

The architect Luther Launcelot Merchant (1876-1966) was born in Brooks, Indiana and moved to Henderson County, North Carolina in about 1885. After service as a veteran of the Spanish-American War Merchant moved to Asheville North Carolina in 1905. He initially worked as a contractor and foreman for the J. C. MacPherson firm for his first seven years of residence in Asheville. In 1911 Merchant and several associates went into business for themselves and opened the Merchant Construction Company. This endeavor meet with success and Merchant and company eventually would be given building contracts in four states in addition to creating many of the landmark buildings of downtown Asheville. Reflecting much credit on the Merchant firm many of their successful Asheville projects were large complex affairs often employing new construction techniques.

Prominent structures built by Merchant and company include the Jackson Building (1923-1924), designed by Ronald Greene. A thirteen story tower in the Gothic Revival style it was the region's first skyscraper. His firm also worked with the famous Richard Sharpe Smith in constructing the Loughran Building in 1923. Merchant's firm was contracted to create many of the prominent building that populate the Asheville downtown that were erected in the boom years of the city prior to the Great Depression. In addition to large commercial structures Merchant also worked in residential construction in Asheville and the surrounding area.

http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000097

 

Related Oral Interviews

The Buildings

Andrew Gennett House (Ca. 1926-1927)

Asheville Citizen-Times Building (1938-1939)

Dr. W. P. Herbert House (1920s)

Gennett House (Ca. 1924)

Gunston Hall (1922-1923)

Honess Building (Ca. 1925)

J. M. Westall Building (1923)

Jackson Building (1923-1924)

Loughran Building (1923)

Northup-McDuffie Hardware (1921)

Public Service Building (1929)

Temple Beth HaTephila (1948-1949)

Westall Building (1924-1925)

 

 

Inventory of Architecture

Selected Correspondence

Typological Motifs in Merchant's Work

Bibliography

 

Asheville Citizen, July 6, 1924.

Asheville Citizen-Times, Aug. 24, 1966.

Catherine W. Bishir, Michael T. Southern, and Jennifer F. Martin, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Western North Carolina (1999).

David R. Black, Historic Architectural Resources of Downtown Asheville, North Carolina (1979).

Charlotte Vestal Brown Papers, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Douglas Swaim, ed., Cabins and Castles: The History and Architecture of Buncombe County, North Carolina (1981).

 

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