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James Knox Taylor, architect of Belvidere’s old post office - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

James Knox Taylor

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U.S. Post Office, Buffalo, New York, 1901

U.S. Post Office, Niagara Falls, New York, 1904

U.S. Post Office and Court House, San Francisco, now the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1905

U.S. Post Office, Waterville, Maine, 1911

James Knox Taylor (October 11, 1857 - August 27, 1929) was Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury from 1897 to 1912. His name is listed ex officio as supervising architect of hundreds of federal buildings built throughout the United States during the period.^[1]

Contents

   [hide] 

• 1 Early career
• 2 Tarney Act
• 3 Selected works
• 4 References

[edit] Early career

The son of H. Knox and Mary (Young) Taylor, he was born in Knoxville, Illinois and attended schools in Minnesota. He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was a classmate of William Martin Aiken, who would precede him in the position of Supervisory Architect, and Cass Gilbert. After graduation he worked in the New York City office of Charles C. Haight and later with Bruce Price.^[2] In 1882 he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota where he formed a partnership with Gilbert, as Gilbert & Taylor. They built many homes and churches. Subsequently they designed the Pioneer and Endicott Buildings. In 1893 he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and formed a partnership with Amos J. Boyden. In 1895 he got a job with Aiken, the Supervisory Architect, as a temporary draftsman. In 1897, following a Civil Serice Commission examination,^[3] he became the Supervisory Architect, the first architect promoted from within.

[edit] Tarney Act

In 1893 Missouri Congressman John Charles Tarsney introduced a bill that allowed the Supervisory Architect to hold competitions among private architects for major structures. Competitions under Taylor's supervision included the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, James Farley Post Office, Cleveland Federal Building, U.S. Post Office and Courthouse (Baltimore, Maryland) and U.S. Customhouse (San Francisco, California) (which are all now on the National Register of Historic Places) among others. The competitions were met with enthusiasm by the community but were also marred by scandal, as when Taylor picked his ex-partner Cass Gilbert for the New York Customs House commission. In 1913 the act was repealed.^[4]

In 1912, Taylor returned to MIT for two years as director of the department of architecture, then moved to Yonkers, New York, where for several years he continued practicing. In 1928, he retired to Tampa, Florida, where he died the following year.^[5]

[edit] Selected works

From 1897 through 1912 Taylor is credited as "supervising architect" for federal buildings constructed during his tenure, a list which includes dozens of post offices, court houses and other structures. Local architects are often credited as well. As the head of a sizable government office, Taylor's direct involvement with any of these projects is open to question.

• Pioneer and Endicott Buildings, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1890 (with Cass Gilbert)
• Denver Mint, Denver, Colorado, 1897
• Philadelphia Mint (Third Building), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1901
• Old Post Office (Buffalo, New York), 1901
• Gatke Hall, now part of Willamette University, Salem, Oregon, 1901
• United States Courthouse Building and Downtown Postal Station (Tampa, Florida), 1902-1905
• Public Safety Building, Cumberland, Maryland, 1904
• United States Post Office, Niagara Falls, New York, 1904
• U.S. Post Office and Court House, San Francisco, now the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1905
• U.S. Post Office (Oil City, Pennsylvania), 1906
• U.S. Custom House, Houston Texas, 1907-1911^[6]
• Old Post Office (Albuquerque, New Mexico), 1908
• Old Post Office/Museum of Ceramics (East Liverpool, Ohio), 1908
• Gainesville, Florida Post Office, 1909
• U.S. Post Office (Beverly, Massachusetts), 1910
• U.S. Post Office (Belvidere, Illinois), 1911
• U.S. Post Office (Des Moines, Iowa), 1910
• U. S. Post Office, Waterville, Maine, 1911
• United States Post Office (Connellsville, Pennsylvania), 1911-1913
• Alaska Governor's Mansion, Juneau, Alaska, 1912
• United States Post Office (Johnstown, New York), Johnstown, New York, 1912-1913
• United States Post Office (Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania), Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, 1912-1914

[edit] References

1. ^ A partial list is given at Emporis.com.
2. ^ Architects to the Nation: The Rise and Decline of the Supervising Architect's Office by Antoinette J. Lee - Oxford University Press, USA (April 20, 2000) ISBN 0-19-512822-2
3. ^ "James Knox Taylor likely to be appointed over New yorkers", The New York Times,17 October 1897.
4. ^ Antoinette J. Lee, Architects to the Nation: The Rise and Decline of the Supervising Architect's Office(Oxford University Press) 2000) ISBN 0-19-512822-2
5. ^ Cass Gilbert collection, Elmer L. Andersen Library, University of Minnesota
6. ^ http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/buildingView.do?pageTypeId=17109&channelPage=/ep/channel/gsaOverview.jsp&channelId=-25241&

James Knox Taylor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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