James Gallier
James Gallier (July 24, 1798 – October 3, 1866) was a prominent 19th-century New Orleans architect.
James Gallier | |
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| Born | James Gallagher July 24, 1798 Ravensdale, Ireland |
| Died | October 3, 1866 (aged 68) At sea, east of Tybee Island, Georgia |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Buildings | Gallier Hall, the Leeds-Davis Building, the Second Christ Church Cathedral |
Biography
Early life
He was born James Gallagher in Ravensdale, County Louth, Ireland in 1798.[1] He changed his last name to a French surname when he moved to New Orleans (1834).[2]
Career
He worked in England during his early career, designing the Godmanchester Chinese Bridge which crosses a mill stream of the River Great Ouse in 1827, and then working on the redevelopment of the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair. He became bankrupt, and emigrated to America[3] in 1832.
He was one of a group of architects who created the idea of Architectural Practice, with the architect working for the clients, and managing those who actually build the structures that have been designed.[4]
His significant works that are National Historic Landmarks include:
- Gallier Hall on St. Charles Avenue (1851), at Lafayette Square in the Central Business District, which was New Orleans' City Hall for nearly a century. It is a National Historic Landmark.
- Pontalba Buildings, with Henry Howard, a National Historic Landmark.
- St. Charles Hotel
- Government Street Presbyterian Church (1836), a National Historic Landmark in Mobile, Alabama.
His other significant works include:
- The Second Christ Church Cathedral on St. Charles Avenue (1837), an Episcopalian Church and later a synagogue. No longer exists.
- Barton Academy (1836) in Mobile, Alabama.
- Belle Helene (1850) in Ascension Parish, Louisiana.
- 824 Canal Street (1844) for surgeon Dr William Newton Mercer, a planter from Mississippi (then called 148 Canal Street). Now The Boston Club
Personal life and death
In 1823, while in England, he met and married Elizabeth Tyler. Their only surviving child was James Gallier Jr., who also became an architect. Elizabeth died in July 1844, in her mid-forties.
On June 23, 1850, in Charleston, South Carolina, he married Catherine Maria Robinson of Mobile, Alabama, who was born November 18, 1822, in Hardwick, Massachusetts, to Colonel Joseph Robinson and Ann Maria Ruggles Walton. She was 24 years his junior.
On October 3, 1866, Mr. and Mrs. Gallier were passengers on board the Evening Star, a paddle-wheel steamer en route from New York City to New Orleans, when it sank in a hurricane about 175 miles east of Savannah, Georgia. There were only a half-dozen survivors out of approximately 250 people.[5]
References
- Banks, William Nathaniel (1997-04-01). "The Galliers, New Orleans architects". The Magazine Antiques, republished in HighBeam Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
- http://www.nola.com/175years/index.ssf/2012/01/the_galliers_the_times-picayun.html "The Galliers," Times-Picayune, 29 January 2012.
- The Architecture of the Estate: The Reign of the Cundys, Survey of London: volume 39: The Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 1 (General History) (1977), pp. 127-140.
- From Craft to Profession: The Practice of Architecture in Nineteenth-Century America, (1999), Mary N. Woods, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-520-21494-1
- New Orleans in 1867, (2008), Ned Hemard, New Orleans Bar Association, accessed 2009-10-31
Pierson Jr., William H. The Colonial and Neo-Classical Styles, vol.1, American Buildings and Their Architects (New York: Anchor Books,1976),456.
External links
- Autobiography of James Gallier. ISBN 0-306-71247-4.
- Southeastern Architectural Archive, Tulane University
- James Gallier in KnowLA, Encyclopedia of Louisiana
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