John McArthur Jr.

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File:John McArthur Jr.jpg
An 1860 illustration of McArthur
File:City Hall Philadelphia.jpg
Upon its completion, Philadelphia City Hall, built between 1874 and 1901, was the tallest occupied building in the world and the world's third-tallest building structure after the Washington Monument, which is Script error: No such module "convert". taller, and the Eiffel Tower, which is Script error: No such module "convert". taller. It remains the world's tallest all-masonry occupied building.

John McArthur Jr. (1823–1890) was a prominent American architect based in Philadelphia. Best remembered as the architect of the landmark Philadelphia City Hall, McArthur also designed some of the city's most ambitious buildings of the Civil War era. Few of his buildings survive.

Career

John McArthur Jr. was born in Bladenock, Scotland, on 13 May 1823,[1] and came to the United States with his family when he was ten years old. Much of his mature style was characterized by Italianate and Second Empire forms and several of his best-known buildings feature mansard roofs, which he helped to introduce and popularize in the United States. During the American Civil War, McArthur planned 24 temporary war hospitals, including Fort Delaware's 600-bed hospital on Pea Patch Island.[2]

Philadelphia has looked up to McArthur's architecture for more than a century. The 250-foot-tall tower-and-spire of his Tenth Presbyterian Church (1854) was the tallest structure in the city when built. (Its 150-foot wooden spire was removed in 1912.) Later, this was surpassed by the tower of City Hall (1874–1901), whose Script error: No such module "convert". made it the tallest occupied building in the world when completed. Until the late 20th century, an unwritten agreement among Philadelphia architects kept all buildings shorter than the top of the statue of William Penn atop McArthur's tower.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Personal life

A Presbyterian and a member of Tenth Church, McArthur was married to Matilda Prevost; they had two sons and two daughters.

Death

McArthur died in Philadelphia on January 8, 1890.

Architectural work

This is a partial list.

File:Wagnerfreeinstitute.jpg
Wagner Free Institute of Science, Philadelphia (1859-65)
File:CHF P1000360 First National Bank Exterior.jpg
First National Bank building, now Science History Institute, Philadelphia
File:John McArthur Jr House West Phila.jpg
"Residence for John McArthur Jr. West Philadelphia, Pa." (1881, demolished).
File:John McArthur plans.jpg
Plan for U.S. Army Hospital, Fort Delaware, Pea Patch Island, DE (1863, demolished). This 600-bed hospital served the garrison, Confederate prisoners, and civilians.

Philadelphia buildings

Demolished Philadelphia buildings

  • Assembly Building, 10th & Chestnut Sts. Philadelphia (1851, rebuilt 1852 possibly by McArthur, demolished)
  • Girard House Hotel, n. side of Chestnut St. at 9th St., Philadelphia (1852, demolished)
  • La Pierre House, South Broad St., Philadelphia (1856, demolished)
  • Continental Hotel, SE corner 9th & Chestnut Sts., Philadelphia (1857–1860, demolished)[4]
  • American Sunday School Union building, 316-320 Chestnut St., Philadelphia (1858, demolished)
  • Franklin Farmers' Market, 100 block of Market St., Philadelphia (1859, demolished)
  • Mikveh Israel Synagogue, 117 N. 7th St., Philadelphia (1860, demolished)[5]
  • Mower Hospital (temporary Civil War hospital), Wyndmoor, Philadelphia (1863, demolished)
  • Residence for Dr. David Jayne, 19th & Chestnut Sts., Philadelphia (1865, demolished)
  • Public Ledger Building, SW corner 6th & Chestnut Sts., Philadelphia (1867, demolished)
  • John McArthur Jr. Residence, 4203 Walnut St., Philadelphia (1881, demolished).
  • Children's Ward, Presbyterian Hospital, 39th & Filbert Sts., Philadelphia (1881–88, demolished).
  • Entrance, The Woodlands, Philadelphia (1936, demolished)[6]

Buildings elsewhere

Gallery

Descendants

A descendant, David Paul McArthur, works as an architect out of the Fishtown section of Philadelphia.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ The Annual Report of the Library Company of Philadelphia, by Library Company of Philadelphia, page 52
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Untitled Document
  5. ↑ Congregation Mikveh Israel
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Message from the President of the United States to the Two Houses of Congress, Millard Fillmore, 1853, p 738
  10. ↑ The Solano Historian, vol. 19-1 (2003), p7ff
  11. ↑ Danville State Hospital
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Source: The Architect’s and Builders Pocket-Book, by Frank Eugene Kidder, 1908, page 1546
  14. ↑ Warren State Hospital * Asylum Architecture, History, Preservation * Kirkbride Buildings

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