The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration, vol. 06, No. 01, January 1900: The Ten Most Beautiful Buildings in the United States.Hamlin, A. D. F. (Alfred Dwight Foster)
General
The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration, vol. 06, No. 01, January 1900: The Ten Most Beautiful Buildings in the United States.
Hamlin, A. D. F. (Alfred Dwight Foster)
Architecture -- Periodicals; Architecture -- United States; Buildings -- United States
V. JEFFERSON MARKET COURT-HOUSE, NEW YORK. F. C. Withers, Architect.
VI. STATE CAPITOL, HARTFORD, CONN. Richard Upjohn, Architect.
VII. CITY HALL, ALBANY, N.Y. H. H. Richardson, Architect.
VIII. SEVER HALL, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. H. H. Richardson, Architect.
IX. STATE CAPITOL, ALBANY, N.Y. H. H. Richardson and others,
Architects.
X. TOWN HALL, NORTH EASTON, MASS. H. H. Richardson, Architect.
* * * * *
[Illustration: MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, DETAIL NEW YORK CITY]
The CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON is 751 feet in length and 121 to 324 feet
wide, consisting of a main edifice of sandstone, painted white, and of
two wings of white marble, and covers an area of 3-1/2 acres. The site
was selected by a French engineer, Peter Charles L'Enfant in 1791, and
the design for the first building--a compromise between the plans of
Stephen Hallet and Dr. William Thornton,--was chosen by competition in
1792. In 1795 George Hadfield was placed in charge of the work, and
was succeeded in 1798 by James Hoban, neither of whom made important
changes in Thornton's designs. In 1814 the building consisted of
two small wings connected by a wooden bridge; and in that year the
structure was damaged by fire set by the British. Benjamin Henry
Latrobe, who was appointed in 1803, continued in charge until 1817,
when he resigned, turning over his post and plans to Charles Bulfinch
of Boston,--the first American-born architect of the Capitol. Bulfinch
completed the central structure, and crowned it with the original low
dome. In 1828 the old capitol was substantially completed, and the
office of architect abolished. In 1843, it being necessary to enlarge
the former structure, plans were advertised for, and in 1850 those of
T. U. Walter of Philadelphia were accepted. The additions made the old
dome look insignificant, and Walter designed the present one, which
was completed in 1863. The terraces and the approaches, begun in 1882,
are the work of Edward Clark.
[Illustration: PLATE VIII ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL, NEW YORK CITY]
The BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY, begun in 1888, was completed in 1895. The
building is 225 feet long, 227 feet deep, and 70 feet in height from
the sidewalk to the top of the cornice. The material of which the
exterior is constructed is grayish-white Milford granite. Although
the architects of this building were officially the firm of Messrs.
McKim, Mead & White of New York City, the senior member, Mr. McKim,
was the actual architect.
Charles Follen McKim was born in Pennsylvania in 1847. He studied at
the Harvard Scientific School, in a New York architect's office, and
in a Parisian _atelier_ connected with the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.
William Rutherford Mead was born in Brattleboro, Vt., in 1846, and
graduated from Amherst College in 1867. For some years he studied in
an architect's office in New York, and then went to Paris, studying
there and elsewhere in Europe.
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