Richard Upjohn

Richard Upjohn ( born January 22, 1802 in Shaftesbury, England; † August 16, 1878 in Garrison, New York ) was an American architect who was best known for his Gothic Revival churches. It is at least partly due to him that this architectural style in the United States reached such popularity. Upjohn pointed out a number of works in the Italianate style and also helped this architectural style in the United States to reputation. His son, Richard Mitchell Upjohn was also a well-known architect and was a partner in Upjohn's architectural firm in New York City.

Biography

Richard Upjohn was born in the English town of Shaftesbury. He sought an education at the master builder and carpenter; Finally, he was master mechanic. He and his family emigrated in 1829 to the United States, where they first settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts and moved to Boston in 1833. There Upjohn was first worked as an architect. His first major project was the entrances to the Boston Common, and the first he designed the church was St. John 's Episcopal Church in Bangor, Maine. 1839 granted to him the commission to redesign the New York Trinity Church. This project was then abandoned and Upjohn was contracted to design a new building that was completed in 1846.. His extremely influential book Upjohn 's rural architecture: designs, working drawings and specifications for a wooden church, and other rural structures in 1852 he published The pattern designs in this publication were cross used by the United States by many builders; many of these buildings still exist today.

Upjohn founded with 13 other architects on February 23, 1857 American Institute of Architects; from 1857 on he was around two decades chairman of this organization until his 1876 Thomas Ustick Walter succeeded. During this time he was involved in the design of many buildings in different architectural styles. Upjohn died in 1878 at his home in Garrison (New York), which he had obtained in 1853. Architectural drawings and documents Upjohn and other family members are kept by the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University, the New York Public Library and the Library of Congress.

Selected Structures

• William Rotch, Jr. House in New Bedford, Massachusetts ( 1834)
• St. John 's Episcopal Church in Bangor, Maine ( 1835-36, 1911 burned )
• Trinity Church in New York City ( 1839-46 )
• Kingscote in Newport, Rhode Iceland (1839 )
• The Church of the Ascension in New York City ( 1840-41 )
• Edward King House in Newport, Rhode Iceland ( 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 )
• Linden wood Kinderhook, New York ( 1849)
• St. Paul 's Cathedral in Buffalo ( 1849-51 )
• Zion Episcopal Church in Rome, New York (1850-1851)
• St. John Chrysostom Church in Delafield, Wisconsin ( 1851-56 )
• Dorchester County Courthouse and Jail in Cambridge, Maryland ( 1853)
• St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland ( 1854)
• All Saints Episcopal Church in Frederick, Maryland ( 1855)
• Kenworthy Hall in Marion, Alabama ( 1858-60 )
• St. Peter 's Episcopal Church in Albany, New York ( 1859)
• Church of the Holy Comforter, 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 in New Rochelle, New York ( 1862)
• ( Burned down in 1870, 1905) Saint Thomas Church in New York City
• St. Paul 's Episcopal Church in Selma, Alabama ( 1871-75 )