Career
Diedrich began his architectural career in the office of the late Francis Costigan. One of the important buildings he helped design was the original Asylum for the Blind, a distinguished building with a fine Greek portico, on the site of which now stands the War Memorial.
Opening an office of his own at a later date, Mr. Bohlen carried on an independent practice until 1884 in which year he took his son Oscar into partnership, and the firm of D. A. Bohlen & Son then established, still continues to operate, with August C. Bohlen, of the third generation, its head. Mr. Bohlen’s early works in Indianapolis comprised a number of public buildings, of which the following named were the most important: Tomilson Hall and Market; St. Vincent’s Hospital (original building) now known as the Transportation Building; Roberts Park Methodist Church, and the Convent of the Little Sisters of the Poor. In addition, he designed buildings at the Oldenburg Academy, and the Convent and Chapel of St. Mary-of-the-Woods, both in Ohio.