Sheridan, Lawrence Vinnedge

b. 1887, d. 1972

Lawrence V. Sheridan, “Sherry”, was born in Frankfort, Indiana on July 8, 1887 to Harry C. and Margaret Vinnedge Sheridan. He had one younger sister, Marjorie Ellen. He received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1909 and a professional Civil Engineering (CE) degree in 1912 from PurdueUniversity.[i]

Next to his graduation picture in the Purdue Yearbook it states, “’Sherry’ blew into Purdue from Frankfort, Ind. And at first was a bit dazed by his surroundings, but gradually weaned himself away from that "Garden Spot" and adjusted himself to his environments. He has a weakness for neckties and bum jokes, but these points are outweighed by his ability as a student, his good fellowship and his never failing neatness. We expect soon to hear from him as one of the foremost heating engineers of the country.”

His first position after graduation was with the Central Station Engineering company of Chicago and Crawfordsville, Indiana. He remained with that firm until April, 1910, when he accepted a position in the engineering department of the T. St. L. & W. railroad, and continued in that capacity until April of 1911.[ii]

From 1911 through 1914, he was associated with the Park Board of Indianapolis working alongside George E. Kessler, Landscape Architect for the City of Indianapolis. His responsibilities at the time included serving as the engineering inspector for the construction of the CapitolStreetBridge and Later Chief Inspector of Construction. In July 1914, he accepted a position with the Bureau of Municipal Research, where he studied municipal playground systems and assisted with government surveys in various Midwest cities. In September 1916, he gave up his position to pursue a coursework at the Harvard University School of Landscape Architecture until May 1917, when as part of the World War I Mobilization, he was sent to Camp Pike, Arkansas, as a city planner of the division cantonment there.[iii]

In January 1918, he entered the Third Officers’ Training Corps and served in France for seven months as a second lieutenant of field artillery. During World War I, he entered 3rd Officers’ Training School at Camp Sherman, Ohio and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant. He served with anti-aircraft battery near Verdun, France. He was discharged at Camp Devens, Massachusetts on January 28, 1919.[iv] After his discharge, he went to Dallas, Texas, where he became the assistant to George E. Kessler, who was the consulting engineer of the Dallas Property Owners’ Association, which was promoting the development of a part of the business district of Dallas.[v]

About that time, he married Grace Elizabeth Emmel of Chillicothe, Ohio. The couple had four sons including his second son Roderick Kessler Sheridan, whom he named after George Kessler. His other children were Roger Williams Sheridan, Harry C. Sheridan, II who settled in Indianapolis, and Lt. Col. Phillip Sheridan.[vi]

In December 1921, Sheridan returned to Indianapolis to serve as the executive secretary of the City Plan Commission. The city zoning ordinance and other city planning measures were under his direction during his tenure, which continued until May 1923, when he resigned in order to give more attention to his private work. The city retained him as a consultant in order not to lose his invaluable services.[vii] As a consultant to the park board, Lawrence Sheridan completed the “Comprehensive Plan of Park Development for Indianapolis and MarionCounty, 1928” in conjunction with George Kessler. Sheridan was proactive in planning and promoting the development and extension of Kessler’s park and boulevard plan for the City of Indianapolis. Sheridan’s work included Kessler Boulevard and the extension of the Kessler designed Fall Creek Parkway north and east to FortHarrison.[viii] The IndianapolisPark and Boulevard system, as designed by Kessler and expanded by Sheridan, including over 3400 acres, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in March of 2003. Lawrence Sheridan gained a pervasive reputation for the excellence of his work in landscape architecture and city planning resulting in consulting work for other Indiana city planning commissions including Richmond, Muncie, Anderson, and Terre Haute, Indiana.[ix]

It was during the ensuing period in the 1920s that Sheridan designed an estate for Fredrick M. Ayres, the son of an Indianapolis department store founder. The estate, known as “Walden”, was built on fashionable Sunset Lane in the “Crows Nest” district of Indianapolis. Sheridan’s approach to the estate plan at Walden was to minimize disturbance of the existing site and preserve the natural character of the property on a ridge along the White River. He described his design approach for the 18 acres in the June 1931 issue of “American Landscape Architect”. “The planning of every feature was done with the idea of merging its outlines with its surroundings and denying emphasis to any one particular element.” Sheridan’s ability to integrate his landscape designs with existing site conditions, along with his desire and ability to work closely with the architect, produced dramatic results. The Walden estate was destroyed by fire, but the landscape still stands as a testament to the ability of Sheridan as a designer.[x]

During the 1930’s, Sheridan was the consulting landscape architect for CrownHillCemetery in Indianapolis with Eunice Fenelon, ASLA. He also worked as the landscape architect for Lockefield Garden Apartments, a significant public housing project in Indianapolis now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[xi] Sheridan worked on the sensitive placement of the buildings to maximize sunlight in each of the apartment units. He planned the focal point of the development as a central court with a grove of Red Oaks.[xii]

From 1937 through 1941, Sheridan was principal of his company, Lawrence V. Sheridan and Sons.[xiii] In 1939, the American Society of Landscape Architects recognized Lawrence Sheridan as a Fellow of the Society.[xiv] The recognition was for his outstanding work in the fields of landscape architecture and city planning.

He was recalled to active duty on October 1, 1941, during World War II, at Fort Harrison in Lawrence Indiana, as a Lieutenant Colonel, Quartermaster Corps, assigned to Office of the Quartermaster General, Repairs and Utilities Branch, Washington D.C., and Deputy Service Command Engineer, 9th Service Command at Fort Douglas. During this time he completed the development of site plans for Ft. Eustis, Virginia; Billings GeneralHospital; Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indiana; Camp Chaffee, Arkansas; Camp Atterbury, Indiana between 1940-1941. [xv] He was released from active duty on February 10, 1946 and retired as a Colonel in the Army Reserves on July 8, 1947.[xvi]

After the war, Sheridan focused his attention on city planning in Indianapolis and elsewhere while serving as president of Metropolitan Planners, Inc., a company formed by the merger of Lawrence V. Sheridan and Sons and Kenneth L. Schellis and Associates.[xvii] In 1957, the American Institute of Planners awarded him their distinguished service award, honoring his work in over 100 communities.[xviii] Sheridan also contributed to the landscape architecture profession by serving as an instructor in the Landscape Architecture Department at PurdueUniversity in the 1960’s.[xix]

Sheridan’s community involvement was extensive. He was a member of the Third Church of Christ, Scientist, Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, Purdue Alumni Association and was a commander of the John Holiday Post No. 186 of the American Legion.[xx] Fraternally, Mr. Sheridan was a member of the Masons, and also held memberships in the American Society of Civil Engineering, the American City Planning Institute, the Sigma Phi Epsilon college fraternity, and the Service Club.[xxi] In addition to being a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the American Society of Civil Engineers, Sheridan was past president of American Institute of Planners.

Lawrence Sheridan was well known in Indianapolis as, “one of it’s the City’s substantial and representative citizens and one who accomplished much for the public good.”[xxii] Lawrence Sheridan passed away in Indianapolis on January 26, 1972.

His many accomplishments as a Landscape Architect included:

  • Chief Inspector, Indianapolis Board of Park Commissions;
  • Executive Secretary, Indianapolis Plan Commission;
  • New York Bureau of Municipal Research;
  • Designer of Camp Pike, Little Rock, Ark.;
  • Designer of Camp Atterbury, Indiana;
  • Master Plan for Los Alamos, N.M. Atomic Laboratory;
  • ConsultantIndianaState Planning Board;
  • Design Consultant for the IndianapolisCity-CountyBuildingPlaza;
  • Zoning Consultant for the United States Air Force;
  • Consulting landscape architect for CrownHillCemetery and PurdueUniversity
  • The founder of Metropolitan Planners, Inc.
  • Consultant for the city planning commissions of Richmond, Muncie, Anderson, and Terre Haute, Indiana.
  • Landscape Architect for the Park Boards of Indianapolis and Terre Haute, Butler College, Crown Hill Cemetery, St. Mary-of-the-Woods and Purdue University,
  • Private practice that included city and zoning plans for: Indianapolis, Richmond, Anderson, Muncie, Kokomo, Bloomington, Gary, Valparaiso, Monster, Michigan City, E. Chicago, Lafayette, West Lafayette, Terre Haute and Crawfordsville, Indiana; Kankakee, Illinois; Lookout Mountain, Tennessee; and Vero Beach; Florida.
  • Vero Beach, Florida master plan
  • Gillette Estates, Tryon, North Carolina
  • Michigan City, Indiana consulting landscape architect
  • Western SpringsIllinois, 1948
  • Wabash, Indiana master plan, 1951
  • Valparaiso development master plan

Bibliography

  1. Bodenhamer, David J. and Robert G. Barrows. The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, 1994. P. 1257.
  2. Hinds, Lawrence H., 1972, Memorial Resolution. College of Architecture and Planning Drawing and Documents Archive, BallStateUniversity, Muncie, Indiana. Pp 1-2.
  3. History of MarionCounty. College of Architecture and Planning Archives, BallStateUniversity, Muncie, Indiana. Pp.827-828.
  4. The Council of Fellows File. American Society of Landscape Architects. Pp 1-3.
  5. Town of Crows Nest. National Register of Historic Places Nomination. MarionCounty, Indiana. 2000. Pp 15-16.
  6. Sheridan Obituary. College of Architecture and Planning Archives, BallStateUniversity, Muncie, Indiana.

Endnotes

[i] Hinds, Lawrence H., 1972, Memorial Resolution. College of Architecture and Planning Drawing and Documents Archive, BallStateUniversity, Muncie, Indiana. Pp 1-2.

[ii] History of MarionCounty. College of Architecture and Planning Archives, BallStateUniversity, Muncie, Indiana. P. 827.

[iii] History, 827.

[iv] History, 827.

[v] History, 827.

[vi] Hinds, 1.

[vii] History, 828.

[viii] Hinds, 1.

[ix] Town of Crows Nest. National Register of Historic Places Nomination. MarionCounty, Indiana. 2000. p.15.

[x] Town, 15.

[xi] Town, 15.

[xii] Bodenhamer, David J. and Robert G. Barrows. The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, 1994. P. 1257.

[xiii] Town, 15.

[xiv] The Council of Fellows File. American Society of Landscape Architects. P 2.

[xv] History, 827.

[xvi] Hinds, 2.

[xvii]Sheridan Obituary. College of Architecture and Planning Archives, BallStateUniversity, Muncie, Indiana.

[xviii] Bodenhamer, David J. and Robert G. Barrows. The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, 1994.

[xix] Purdue Department of Landscape Architecture Department.

[xx] Hinds, 2.

[xxi] Hinds, 2.

[xxii] History, 2.