Charles Allen

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Charles Morehead Allen (born April 20, 1862 in Louisville, Kentucky; died June 18, 1933 in Birmingham) 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. He kept offices at 114½ 21st Street North in 1911.

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

Allen married the former Nancy Arabella Thomson and had eight children. He added his son, Charles T. Allen to the "Charles M. Allen & Son" nameplate and moved his offices at 212½ 21st Street North.

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.

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