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| Richard Upjohn | |
 A bird's-eye view of Trinity Church in 1912. |
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| Personal information | |
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| Name | Richard Upjohn |
| Birth date | 22 January 1802 |
| Birth place | Shaftesbury, England |
| Date of death | 16 August 1878 |
| Place of death | Putnam County, New York |
| Work | |
| Significant buildings | Trinity Church in New York City Edward King House in Newport St. Paul's Cathedral in Buffalo |
Richard Upjohn (22 January 1802 - 16 August 1878) was an English-born architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches. He was partially responsible for launching the movement to such popularity in the United States. Upjohn also did extensive work in and helped to popularize the Italianate style. He was a founder and the first president of the American Institute of Architects. His son, Richard Mitchell Upjohn was also a well-known architect and served as a partner is his architectural firm in New York.[1][2]
Biography
Richard Upjohn was born in Shaftesbury, England, where he was apprenticed to a builder and cabinet-maker. He eventually became a master-mechanic. He and his family emigrated to the United States in 1829. They initially settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts and then moved on to Boston in 1833, where he worked in architectural design.[2] His first major project was for entrances to Boston Common and his first church would be St. John's Church in Bangor, Maine. He had relocated to New York by 1839 where he worked on alterations to Trinity Church. The alterations were later abandoned and he was commissioned to design a new church, completed in 1846. He published his extremely influential book, Upjohn's rural architecture: Designs, working drawings and specifications for a wooden church, and other rural structures, in 1852. The designs in this publication were widely used across the country by builders, with many examples remaining.[1]
Upjohn, along with 13 other architects, co-founded the American Institute of Architects on February 23, 1857. He served as president of that organization from 1857 to 1876, being succeeded by Thomas Ustick Walter. He went on the design many buildings in a variety of styles. He died at his home in Garrison, New York in 1878. Architectural drawings and papers by Upjohn and other family members are held by the Drawings and Archives Department of Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University, New York Public Library's Humanities and Social Sciences Library, Manuscripts and Archives division, and by the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.[2]
He died on 16 August 1878 in Putnam County, New York of "softening of the brain".[3]
Projects
Notable projects included:
- William Rotch, Jr. House in New Bedford, Massachusetts (1834)
- St. John's Episcopal Church in Bangor, Maine (1835-36, burned 1911)
- Trinity Church in New York City (1839-46)
- Kingscote in Newport, Rhode Island (1839)
- The Church of the Ascension in New York City (1840-41)
- Edward King House in Newport, Rhode Island (1845-47)
- St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Burlington, New Jersey (1846-54)
- Christ Episcopal Church in Raleigh, North Carolina (1846-48)
- Grace Church in Newark, New Jersey (1847-48)
- Lindenwald in Kinderhook, New York (1849)
- St. Paul's Cathedral in Buffalo, New York (1849-51)
- Zion Episcopal Church in Rome, New York (1850-1851)
- St. John Chrysostom Church in Delafield, Wisconsin (1851-56)
- Kenworthy Hall in Marion, Alabama (1858-60)
- St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Albany, New York (1859)
- Church of the Holy Comforter in Poughkeepsie, New York (1860)
- St. Philip's Church in the Highlands in Garrison, New York (1860-61)
- Memorial Church of St. Luke The Beloved Physician, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1861)
- Trinity-St. Paul's Episcopal Church (New Rochelle, New York) (1862)
- All Saint's Memorial Church in Navesink, New Jersey (1863-64)
- Saint Thomas Church in New York City (1870, burned 1905)
- St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Selma, Alabama (1871-75)
References
- ^ a b Doumato, Lamia. Richard Upjohn, Richard Michell Upjohn, and the Gothic Revival in America. Monticello, Ill: Vance Bibliographies, 1984. ISBN 0890281289
- ^ a b c Upjohn, Everard M. Richard Upjohn, Architect and Churchman. New York: Columbia University Press, 1939.
- ^ "Richard Upjohn, Architect", New York Times (16 August 1878). Retrieved on 2008-07-17. "Richard Upjohn, one of the oldest and most prominent church architects of this country, died on Friday, in the seventy-seventh year of his ago. ..."
