Name Charles Hermany | ||
Died January 18, 1908, Louisville, Kentucky, United States | ||
Charles Hermany (1830–1908) was an engineer and architect. He assisted Theodore Scowden in designing the Louisville Water Works buildings. He designed the Crescent Hill Water Plant. Hermany was the chief engineer and superintendent of the Louisville Water Company for more than 25 years and designed water systems for Bowling Green, Kentucky and Frankfort, Kentucky. His map of a park system for the Salmagundi Club is said to have inspired Frederick Law Olmsted's work.
Hermany was also involved in the design of the River Pumping Station for the Cincinnati Water Works. He is buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville His son, Charles Scowden Hermany, lived from 1872 to 1903 and was also buried at Cave Hill Cemetery.
In 2009 the Louisville Water Company (LWC) celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Crescent Hill Filtration Plant. Their website notes: "the opening in 1909 culminated Chief Engineer Charles Hermany's quest for pure water. It marked 30 years of research that included building the Crescent Hill Reservoir and a landmark experiment to develop a purification process for drinking water." Hermany worked with George Warren Fuller to complete the project.
The designs have even been said to have influenced Frederick Law Olmsted who visited in 1891. A University of Kentucky student compared Hermany's work with that of Marcus Agrippa's in Imperial Rome.