In 1917, Lapham moved to Akron, Ohio taking a position with Carmichael Construction Company until the outbreak of the U.S. role in World War I.
He attended Officer's Training Camp at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia and Fortress Monroe in Virginia.
During the war he served at Fort Moultire in Charleston and the 61st Artillery Brigade, 1st Army, American Expeditionary Forces in France.
During World War II he was assigned to the Inspector General Office in Atlanta where he inspected construction of bases from Cuba to Kentucky including the secret work at Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
[5] The architectural firm of Simons & Lapham was influential in creating the first historic preservation ordinance in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1930.
He was a founding member of the South Carolina Society of Colonial Wars and designed their official seal.