Charles T. Main

Charles Thomas Main (February 16, 1856 – March 6, 1943) was an American mechanical engineer and business executive, who worked for New England textile mills, and also in the then new field of hydroelectricity. He is known as founder of Charles T. Main, Inc., and as president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in the year 1918-19.

Biography Charles Thomas Main was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts on February 16, 1856, the son of Thomas and Cordelia (Reed) Main. His grandmother, Deborah Phillips, was a descendant of Rev. George Phillips who settled Watertown, Massachusetts in 1630. Main's father was a machinist and engineer, and this may account in part for Charles' early displayed fondness for scientific subjects and general work in mathematics. He obtained his preliminary education in the schools of Marblehead, and later entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then of Boston, Massachusetts, where he was graduated B.S. in 1876. Following his graduation, he spent three years (1876–79) as assistant in the laboratories of the institute, perfecting himself in the practical work of his profession.

In October 1879, in order to still further improve both his technical and practical knowledge, he became a draftsman in the extensive plant of the Manchester Mills, at Manchester, New Hampshire, remaining there until June 1, 1881, when he began work as engineer in the Lower Pacific Mills at Lawrence, Massachusetts. In this capacity he served until 1885, when his abilities won him promotion to the position of assistant superintendent of the mills. In 1886, he was made superintendent, and so continued until January 1, 1892, when he resigned to enter upon general engineering practice.

He worked a year in Providence, Rhode Island, and then entered a partnership with power engineer Francis Winthrop Dean. He started his own firm in 1907 which was incorporated as the engineering company Charles T. Main, Inc., in 1926. He received the ASME Medal in 1935 and was elected an honorary member of ASME in 1939. He was president of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers in 1912 and drafted a code of ethics during that time which was a first for engineering societies.