Background
Tolan was born in Delphos, Ohio to Thomas J. and Harriet Skinner Tolan. With little formal art training, he apprenticed under his father, a marble craftsman-turned architect, starting in 1872 at age 17.
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Brentwood Tolan
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Career
His most notable works include the -designated Allen County Courthouse in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Whitley County Courthouse in Columbia City, Indiana, the Louisiana Porte County Courthouse in Louisiana Porte, Indiana, as well as the now-demolished Old National Bank Building and Masonic Temple and Opera House in Fort Wayne. In 1874 his father moved the family and architectural practice to Fort Wayne, Indiana. After his father"s death in 1883, Tolan continued the family architectural practice in Fort Wayne.
He became well known during the Progressive Era in the Great Lakes area of the Midwest for designing municipal and local government buildings, including courthouses and jails.
He later moved to Lima, Ohio, where he practiced with the firm DeCurtin, Rawson, and Tolan. He is buried in Delphos.
T.J. Tolan & Son, Architects Davis County Courthouse, Bloomfield, Iowa (added May 3, 1974) Van Wert County Courthouse, Van Wert, Ohio (added July 30, 1974) Holmes County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail, Millersburg, Ohio (added July 25, 1974) Morrow County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail, Mount Gilead, Ohio (added July 25, 1974) Louisiana Grange County Courthouse, Lagrange, Indiana (added July 17, 1980) Noble County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail, Albion, Indiana (added December 27, 1982) Kosciusko County Courthouse, Warsaw, Indiana (added March 1, 1982) Parke County Courthouse, Rockville, Indiana (added May 27, 1993) McCulloch-Weatherhogg Double House, Fort Wayne, Indiana (added 2001) Henry County Courthouse, Cambridge, Illinois (added August 20, 2004) Tolan, Architect Allen County Courthouse, Fort Wayne, Indiana (added May 28, 1976) LaPorte County Courthouse, LaPorte, Indiana Whitley County Courthouse, Columbia City, Indiana Decurtin, Rawson, and Tolan Argonne Hotel, Lima, Ohio (added October 7, 1982) Tolan, Architect Allen County Courthouse, Fort Wayne, Indiana (added July 31, 2003).
