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

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...

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.

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 and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign 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, 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 National Register of Historic Places 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 800 Apartments Building, Kentucky Fairgrounds, Kentucky Hotel, Byck's Department Store (St. Matthews and 4th Street), Kentucky State Reformatory (1939), and buildings for Western Kentucky University.

Buildings Designed by W.S. Arrasmith

Image:800 building.jpg, The 800 Apartments, Louisville, Kentucky Image:Bowman Field, Louisville.jpg,

Bowman Field (Kentucky) Bowman Field is a public airport southeast of downtown Louisville, in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The airport covers and has two runways. The FAA calls it a reliever airport for nearby Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. History E ...

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 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.) The Old Greyhound Terminal was a bus terminal serving Greyhound Lines located at 1100 New York Avenue NW in Northwest, Washington, D.C. in the United States operating from 1940 to the 1980s. It was used extensively during World War II to transpor ...

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 (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) The Greyhound Bus Terminal in downtown Evansville, Indiana, also known as the Greyhound Bus Station, is a Streamline Moderne-style building from 1938. It was built at a cost of $150,000. ''Note:'' This includes and Accompanying photographs Its ...

(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 Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, 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 Western Kentucky University Image:Kentucky_State_Reformatory_La_Grange_KY_c1940.png, Kentucky State Reformatory, 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 while at Illinois and was in command of a veteran company in 1933. Following the Ohio River flood of 1937 he led efforts to build a pontoon bridge 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. A book by Frank E. Wrenick devoted to Arrasmith's Greyhound designs was published by McFarland in 2006.

References

External links

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

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

{{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