L. C. Waters Collection

L. C. (Lewis Chalfont) Waters (1866-1941) was a native of Jonesboro, Clayton County, Georgia. He was the son of Rev. Richard Waters and Jane Leland Fayette Turner Waters. By 1883 the family had moved to Atlanta. Lewis was listed in the 1886 Atlanta city directory as an “architect.” In 1886 Lewis was listed as a draughtsman with T. C Maddox & Son of Birmingham, Alabama, “Architects, Superintendents, & Sanitary Engineers.” By 1890 L C. Waters was back in Atlanta again listed as an “architect.” He remained in Atlanta until the end of the decade. His brother Wilbur W. Waters moved to Knoxville in 1893 to practice law with George W. Pickle and William P. Washburn. L. C Waters moved to Knoxville around 1898 when he got his first major commission, a large brick mansion on Clinch Avenue built for G. W. Pickle. The house, originally called “Confederate Hall,” stood for over a century until it was ravaged by fire and demolished. L. C. Waters’s architectural practice flourished over the next three decades. He and sometime partner C. A. Tarwater designed numerous residences, schools, churches, and public buildings. He retired from active participation in the firm around 1930. By then he was living on Kingston Pike where he remained until he died in 1941. He and his wife, Maude Helmer Waters, are buried in Highland Cemetery. Architectural drawings and specifications of L.C. Waters, C.A. Tarwater, and Waters and Tarwater, ca. 1901-1927. Mostly Knoxville and East Tennessee locations. 14 boxes of specifications. The collection includes architectural plans in these categories: General 135; Churches 21; Residences 213; Schools 86; Total 455.