Charles Allen

Charles M. Allen (born April 20, 1862 in Louisville, Kentucky) was an independent building contractor, responsible for erecting a number of structures in the Birmingham District after he began operating here in 1886.

Allen was the son of Alfred Allen, a notable building contractor in Louisville, Kentucky. He left school at age fifteen to work full-time with his father. He moved to Birmingham in 1882 and worked with T. C. Thompson & Brother for four years before going out on his own.

Allen is credited with constructing the Watts Building (1888), the Jefferson Theatre (1900), the Age-Herald Building (1910), the First National Bank of Corey (1912), the Comer Building (1913), the Watts Tower (1927), and the Stockham Valve & Fitting plant.

Allen built the "Robin's Nest" on Shades Crest Road at his summer residence in 1884. In 1917 he constructed a full-time residence just down the road from the Robin's Nest.

References

• Cruikshank, George H. (1920) History of Birmingham and Its Environs: A Narrative Account of Their Historical Progress, Their People, and Their Principal Interests 2 volumes. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company. - via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections