Thomas Ustick Walter

Template:Short description Template:Infobox officeholder Thomas Ustick Walter (September 4, 1804 – October 30, 1887) was an American architect. He worked on more than 400 projects, including Moyamensing Prison and Girard College in Philadelphia. He served as the fourth Architect of the Capitol, and led the addition of the north and south wings and the central dome. He retired in 1865, but financial difficulties forced him back to work in the 1870s, including a job as Chief Assistant to the Architect of Philadelphia City Hall.

A founder of the American Institute of Architects, he served as its president from 1876 to 1887.

Early life and education

Walter was born on September 4, 1804, in Philadelphia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was the son of mason and bricklayer Joseph S. Walter and his wife Deborah.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Walter showed an aptitude for mathematics and drawing at an early age.Template:Sfn He worked as a bricklayer for his father during the construction of the Second Bank of the United States<ref name=winterthur>Template:Cite web</ref> and studied architecture in the office of William Strickland.<ref name=aoc>Template:Cite web</ref>

He attended the School of Mechanic Arts at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and studied under John Haviland.<ref name=winterthur/>

Later in life, he received an honorary Masters of Arts degree from Madison University in 1849, a Ph.D. from the University of Lewisburg in 1853, and a Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard University in 1857.Template:Sfn

Career

Walter established his architectural design practice in 1830.Template:Sfn The following year, he was appointed chief architect of the planned Moyamensing Prison. In 1833, the Philadelphia City Council accepted his design for Girard College; he led construction until its completion in 1847.Template:Sfn

In 1829, Walter was elected to the Franklin Institute; he would serve the museum in several roles, including as professor of architecture in 1841<ref name=winterthur/> and as chairman of the Board of Managers in 1846.Template:Sfn

In 1836, he recommended the creation of the American Institution of Architects and served as secretary. That organization failed, but in 1857, he would help to found the American Institute of Architects, for which he served as vice-president in 1857 and as president from 1876 to 1887.<ref name="Rees">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1838, the building committee of Girard College funded a European trip for Walter. He visited England, Ireland, France, and Italy to study the architecture and construction of schools and other buildings and gather ideas for his work at the college.<ref name="KohlerCarson">Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1839, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1841, a local economic downturn created financial hardship for Walter. He was forced to sell his house and most of his architectural library.<ref name="KohlerCarson" /> In 1843, he was commissioned to build a breakwater for the port of LaGuaira, Venezuela, and completed the work in 1845.Template:Sfn

The U.S. Capitol and its dome

Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1861, beneath the unfinished Capitol dome

In 1851, Walter was selected by President Millard Fillmore to lead the expansion of the U.S. Capitol.Template:Sfn The office of the Architect of the Capitol, originally part of the Department of the Interior, was from 1853 to 1862 placed under the War Department. Walter's work was supervised by Montgomery C. Meigs and William B. Franklin. Work was discontinued at the outbreak of the American Civil War, and when it started up again in 1862, his department was again supervised by the Department of the Interior.<ref name=aoc/>

Construction on the wings began in 1851. The House of Representatives met in its new quarters in December 1857 and the Senate occupied its new chamber by January 1859. Walter's fireproof cast-iron dome was authorized by Congress on March 3, 1855, and was nearly completed by December 2, 1863, when the Statue of Freedom was placed on top. The dome's cast-iron frame was made by the iron foundry Janes, Fowler, Kirtland & Co.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The 36 Corinthian columns designed by Walter, as well as 144 cast-iron structural pillars for the dome, were supplied by the Baltimore ironworks of Poole & Hunt.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Walter also rebuilt the interior of the Library of Congress' west center building after the fire of 1851. Walter continued as Capitol architect until 1865, when he resigned his position over a minor contract dispute. After 14 years in Washington, he retired to Philadelphia.<ref name=KohlerCarson/>

In the 1870s, financial setbacks forced Walter from retirement. He worked for a year as a draftsman for the Pennsylvania Railroad.Template:Sfn He worked as Chief Assistant<ref name=aoc/> to his friend and younger colleague John McArthur Jr., when he won the design competition for Philadelphia City Hall.<ref name=Moss>Template:Cite web</ref> He continued on that vast project until his death in 1887. He was interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Works

Walter worked on over 400 projects over his career,<ref name=Rees/> including:

Spruce Street Baptist Church, 418 Spruce St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1829)
Portico Row, 900–930 Spruce St., Philadelphia (1831–32)
Moyamensing Prison, Philadelphia (1832–35)Template:Sfn
First Presbyterian Church of West Chester, West Chester, Pennsylvania (1832)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Wills Eye Hospital, Logan Square, Philadelphia (1832)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Central Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia (1833)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Founder's Hall, Girard College for Orphans, Philadelphia (1833–1848)
Expansion of Andalusia, Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania (1833–32)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
St. George's Hall, residence of Matthew Newkirk (1835)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Interior renovation of Christ Church, Philadelphia, (1835–36)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Bank of Chester County in West Chester, Pennsylvania

Bank of Chester County, West Chester, Pa. (1836)<ref name="loc">Template:Cite web</ref>
West Chester Young Ladies Seminary, West Chester (1838)<ref name=Lukens/>
Newkirk Viaduct Monument, West Philadelphia, Philadelphia (1839)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
St. James Episcopal Church, Wilmington, North Carolina (1839–40)
Norfolk Academy Norfolk, Virginia (1840)
Lexington Presbyterian Church, Lexington, Virginia (1843)<ref name="VAnom">Template:Cite web</ref>
Breakwater, La Guaira, Venezuela (1843–45)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (1843)
Tabb Street Presbyterian Church, Petersburg, Virginia (1843)<ref name="VAnom2">Template:Cite web</ref>
Winder Houses, 232-34 S. 3rd St., Philadelphia (1843)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Chester County Courthouse, West Chester (1846–47)<ref>dsf.chesco.org Template:Webarchive - Chester county courthouse West Chester, Pennsylvania</ref>
Chester County Horticultural Hall, West Chester (1848)

Inglewood Cottage, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia (Template:Circa)
Completion of East Wing, Old Patent Office Building, Washington, D.C. (–1853)
West Wing, Old Patent Office Building, Washington, D.C. (1851–54, burned 1877)
United States Capitol dome, Washington, D.C. (1855–1866)
Preliminary design for expansion of the Treasury Building, Washington, D.C. (Template:Circa)
Expansion of the General Post Office, Washington, D.C. (1855–66)
Marine Barracks, Pensacola, Florida (1857)
Marine Barracks, Brooklyn, New York (1858–59)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Ingleside, Washington, D.C. (Template:Circa)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Garrett-Dunn House, 7048 Germantown Ave, Mt. Airy, Philadelphia (Template:Circa, burned 2009)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Fifth Presbyterian Church, 500 I Street N.W., Washington, D.C. (1852)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Thomas Ustick Walter House, Germantown, Philadelphia (1860–61, demolished Template:Circa)<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Eutaw Place Baptist Church, Baltimore, Maryland (1868–71)

Personal life

He married Mary Ann Elizabeth Hancocks in 1824.<ref name=winterthur/> She died during childbirth in 1847. He was remarried to Amanda Gardiner in 1848.<ref name=KohlerCarson/> He had 13 children, seven of whom outlived him.Template:Sfn His grandson, Thomas Ustick Walter III, was an architect who practiced in Birmingham, Alabama, from the 1890s to the 1910s.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Legacy

For his architectural accomplishments, Walter is honored in a ceiling mosaic in the East Mosaic Corridor at the entrance to the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

A historical marker highlighting the location of Walter's house in Philadelphia was erected in 2009 by the Philadelphia Historical and Museum Commission.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>