San Joaquin County Biographies
Ref: Page 1069-1070
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 11/6/2009
ARTHUR W. COWELL
The advancement of San Joaquin County and the upbuilding of the city of Stockton have a progressive promoter in the person of Arthur W. Cowell, the energetic brick and concrete contractor, who has a record of erecting one business block each month for a year. He was born near Richmond, Va., on August 16, 1870. His father, Adelbert M. Cowell, was born in Auburn, N.Y., in 1834, and learned the stone and brick mason's trade; and upon his removal to Washington, D.C., he engaged in the contracting business. Later he did construction work for several railroads in the East. In 1886 he arrived in California and located at San Diego, where he worked for the San Diego Flume Company. The following year he located in Stockton, and here he has been actively engaged in construction work of various kinds. He married Miss Sarah Hollingsworth, and they are the parents of ten children, nine of whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Cowell reside in one of the residences he erected on North Stanislaus street.
Arthur W. Cowell, the oldest of his parents' living children, came to California with the family when sixteen years of age and took up the trade of brick mason with his father; and within four years he was able to start in business for himself. Following is a partial list of the buildings he has erected since 1900: the main high school building, the San Joaquin Valley Bank (now the Bank of Italy) on Hunter Street, the Elks building, the Y.M.C.A. building, the Stockton Savings & Loan Bank, the Wilhoit building, the Lincoln Hotel, the Clark Hotel, the Henry Apartments, the Home Apartments, and Hotel Philson. He also remodeled the Commercial Hotel and built the Smith & Lang building on South San Joaquin Street, the Salvation Army Hotel, and the Oullahan & Littlehale block on Weber Avenue. Then there are the Belding block, Hotel Marion, the Sanguinetti block on Market Street, the Solari block, Steed Brothers' garage, the Flannigan block, the Turner block, the Russell block on California Street, the Stockton Ice & Fuel building, the Ruhl building, and the Gnekow block. He erected the entire block of brick buildings on the south side of Main Street between Stanislaus and American Avenue, which includes the five-story Bronx Hotel, and also the Crane block of buildings on south San Joaquin Street, which includes the Hotel Dale; as well as the Presbyterian Church at the corner of El Dorado & Vine, and the new five-story Levy Building at the corner of Main and Hunter. His building operations extend throughout the entire county, and he has erected many substantial and imposing buildings outside of his home city, among them being the Lodi National Bank and the Farmers & Merchants Bank building at Lodi.
The marriage of Mr. Cowell united him with Miss Margaret Willis, a native of England, and they are the parents of three children: Margaret, William A., and Arthur W., Jr. During the late war, William A. Cowell served as sergeant of Company L, 363rd Infantry, at Camp Lewis, and later was commissioned lieutenant; however, he was not sent overseas. Fraternally, Mr. Cowell is a member of Lodge No. 218 B.P.O.E., and Charity Lodge No. 6, I.O.O.F.
History of
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY
CALIFORNIA
With A
Biographical Review
of
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been
Identified with Its Growth and Development
from the Early Days to the Present
HISTORY BY
George H. Tinkham
HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1923
San Joaquin County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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