Ithiel Town

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Ithiel Town (born October 3, 1784 in Thompson , Connecticut , † June 13, 1844 in New Haven , Connecticut) was an American architect and civil engineer . As a member of the first generation of professional builders in the United States, he made a significant contribution to American architecture in the first half of the 19th century. His works in Classicism , Federal Style, and Neo-Gothic influenced contemporary architects and were widely copied.

Life

Town saw the light of day in Thompson as the son of the farmer Archelaus Town and his wife Martha. He learned his trade with Asher Benjamin in Boston and began his independent career in 1810 with the Asa Gray House .

His earliest major architectural works include Center Church, built in 1812–1815, and Trinity Church, built in 1813–1813, both in New Haven Green , New Haven . He demonstrated his skills as an engineer by constructing the bell stalls for the Center Church, which he had put together in the tower and then lifted to its final place in less than three hours with a special windlass. Trinity Church was one of the earliest neo-Gothic church buildings in North America.

In 1826, Town was a founding member of the National Academy of Design (the Academy made him an honorary member in 1839) and he was also honored with an honorary Magister from Yale University .

Townscher lath bearer

Townscher lath girders as supporting structure of a covered wooden bridge in Vermont (interior view)

On January 28, 1820 became Town the patent for the construction of a wooden lattice girder which as Town shear bar carrier or Town'scher Staff carrier (Engl. Town's Lattice Truss ), became known. The girder was of great importance as it enabled relatively unskilled workers to build bridges using prefabricated materials. The design of the lattice girders also avoided the need for the wide pillars required by stone arch bridges. The construction method spread throughout the United States and made Town a wealthy man, charging one to two US dollars per foot of bridge length as a license fee. Town's construction can still be recognized on various bridges, in Connecticut, for example, on Bull's Bridge in Kent and on the West Cornwall Bridge between Cornwall and Sharon, and in New York on the Eagleville Bridge and / or Shushan Bridge , both located in Washington County . Many other covered bridges in the United States also use the Towns method of construction.

Town and Davis

Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT (with AJ Davis)

Town formed one of the first professional architecture firms in the United States with Alexander Jackson Davis in 1825 . Together they worked on a number of important buildings, the spectrum of which spanned various architectural styles of historicism . Town traveled in Europe from 1829-1830.

The company existed until 1835; James H. Dakin was part of it for eighteen months in 1832/1833 . Her work included the State Capitol in New Haven, the Cityhall and Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford , the Indiana Statehouse (1831-1840, demolished 1877) and the North Carolina State Capitol (1833-1840) and the US Custom House (now Federal Hall ) in New York City (1833–1842). During this time Town also designed the Potomac Aqueduct in Washington, DC (1833-1843), which allowed fully loaded canal barges to cross the Potomac River and which was considered one of the most remarkable engineering achievements of its time.

House and library

Town designed his New Haven home on Hillhouse Avenue in a neoclassical style. Here he kept his extraordinary collection of literature on architecture. His library contained more than 11,000 books and prints and was far larger than any other personal book collection of the time, including that of Sir John Soane in London . The library was amalgamated when few major books on architecture appeared in the United States. Town left many of his books to Yale University on his death, the rest of which were sold.

In 1839 Town commissioned the renowned American painter Thomas Cole to produce a painting entitled The Architect's Dream , which now hangs in the Toledo Museum of Art .

Town's house later belonged to Joseph Earl Sheffield , the founder of the Sheffield Scientific School . The structure no longer exists.

death

Town died on June 13, 1844 in New Haven and was buried in the local Grove Street Cemetery .

Selected works

Samuel Russell House, Middletown, Connecticut (with David Hoadley ).

Fonts

  • A Description of Ithiel Town's Improvement in the Construction of Wood and Iron Bridges (New Haven, 1821)
  • A Detail of Some Particular Services Performed in America, During the Years 1776, 1777, 1778, and 1779, Compiled from Journals and Original Papers ... taken from the Journal Kept on Board of the Ship 'Rainbow' Commanded By Sir George Collier ( New York, 1835)
  • Atlantic Steamships. Ideas and Statements, The Result of Considerable Reflection on the Subject of Navigating the Atlantic Ocean with Steam-Ships of Large Tonnage. Also, the Arrival, Description, and Departure of the Two First British Steam-Ships (Wiley & Putnam / JP Wright, New York, 1838)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Seymour, GD "Ithiel Town", Dictionary of American Biography Base Set, American Council of Learned Societies, 1928–1936. Reprinted in: Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich .: Thomson Gale. 2008.
  2. ^ Nationalacademy.org: Past Academicians "T" / Town, Ithiel Founder NA 1826; Honorary 1839 ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on July 18, 2015)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nationalacademy.org
  3. ^ Bilger, Burkhard, "Mystery on Pearl Street," The New Yorker , Jan. 7, 2008, p. 64.
  4. ^ Byars, Mel. "Town, Ithiel" in: American National Biography , American Council of Learned Societies, 2000.
personal data
SURNAME Town, Ithiel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American architect
DATE OF BIRTH October 3, 1784
PLACE OF BIRTH Thompson , now Connecticut
DATE OF DEATH June 13, 1844
Place of death New Haven , Connecticut