Robert Mills (architect)
Robert Mills (born August 12, 1781 in Charleston , South Carolina , † March 3, 1855 in Washington, DC ) was an American architect and cartographer who u. a. designed the Washington Monument in Washington, DC.
He is sometimes referred to as the first native American to become an architect, although this is more likely to apply to Charles Bulfinch .
Mills was in Charleston , South Carolina , a student of Irish architect James Hoban , who would later be the designer of the US Presidents' White House .
In 1802 he moved to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , where he was a student and collaborator of Benjamin Henry Latrobe , but soon made a name for himself. In Philadelphia he designed Washington Hall, the Baptist Church on Samson Street, the Octogon Unitarian Church and was involved in the design of the Upper Ferry Bridge. He also designed the Burlington County Prison in the US state of New Jersey.
After moving to Baltimore , Maryland , he was the designer of the local St. John's Episcopal Church, the Maryland House of Industry and the Maryland Club, and in the years that followed he built a large number of buildings in South Carolina, Richmond ( Virginia ) and Washington, DC In 1825 he published an Atlas of South Carolina.
In 1836 he won the tender for the Washington Monument , his most famous work. He then designed the building that housed the US Treasury Department and other government buildings in Washington, DC ; in South Carolina, the courthouses in at least 18 counties ; public buildings in Columbia , the capital of South Carolinas, some private houses and parts of the "Landsford Canal" in Lancaster County on the Catabwa River .
Mills was one of the first to include fire protection measures in his planning . When a fire in Kingstree , South Carolina largely destroyed the first floor of the courthouse, the district archives on the first floor were spared.
literature
- John Bryan: Robert Mills. America's First Architect. Princeton Architectural Press, New York NY, ISBN 1-568-98296-8 (English).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mills, Robert |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American architect and cartographer, creator of the Washington Monument |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 12, 1781 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Charleston |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 3, 1855 |
| Place of death | Washington, DC |