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| The
Molly Brown House Museum We care about your privacy and security on the Web. Click here to read our policies regarding your use of this Web site. |
| William A. Lang (1846-1897) | |||
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William Lang was Denver’s greatest eclectic architect of the 19th century. He practiced in Denver between 1887 and 1895. Most of his work centered on brick and stone residences in a combination of Romanesque and Queen Anne styles. Lang was born in Ohio in 1846. He enlisted in the Illinois Infantry in February 1864. Lang’s name first appears in the Denver City Directory as an architect in 1887. In 1890 he entered into a partnership with Marshall R. Pugh, forming the firm of Lang and Pugh. Lang became a founding member of the Colorado Chapter of the A.I.A. in 1892. Between 1888 and 1893, Lang designed more than 150 houses in the Denver area in addition to stores, barns, and offices. He designed both elaborate and expensive homes as well as small, inexpensive buildings. The Baker Historic District in Denver has a large number of these smaller Lang homes. The Panic of 1893 ruined Lang’s successful architectural practice and ended his partnership with Marshall Pugh, who left Denver to work elsewhere. By 1895 Lang was in severe financial difficulty and in poor health and may have been suffering from emotional problems and/or alcoholism. He is listed in the city directory as a “waiter”. In December of 1896, he left his wife and daughter in Denver and made an extended visit to his brother who lived in a Chicago suburb. In August of 1897, Lang disappeared from his brother’s home. He was arrested in Morris, Illinois, for drunk and disorderly conduct and ordered out of town. On August 21st he was hit by a passing train while walking down the railroad tracks and was killed instantly. His brother and his wife were informed of the death but neither had the money to pay for, or attend, his funeral. He was buried in Marsailles, Illinois, in a lot donated by the Grand Army of the Republic with a simple stone marker. (Susan Lanman – Denver: The City Beautiful) |
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