Arthur Gilman

For the founder of the institution which became Radcliffe College, see Arthur Gilman (educator).

Arthur Delevan Gilman FAIA (November 5, 1821, Newburyport, Massachusetts – July 11, 1882, Syracuse, New York) was an American architect, designer of many Boston neighborhoods, and member of the American Institute of Architects.

Arthur Gilman
Portrait of Gilman, circa 1870
Born	Arthur Delevan Gilman (1821-11-05)November 5, 1821 Newburyport, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	July 11, 1882(1882-07-11) (aged 60) Syracuse, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Architect

Life and career

Gilman was a descendant of Edward Gilman, Sr., one of the first settlers of Exeter, New Hampshire.^[1] Gilman was educated at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1844, he published a paper on "American Architecture" in the North American Review, which was translated into several foreign languages. He was then invited to deliver twelve lectures before the Lowell Institute, Boston, after which he went to Europe on a tour of professional observation.

On his return to Boston, he advocated filling in the Back Bay district, urging this plan for years before his views were carried out by the state. Here Gridley James Fox Bryant was his colleague. Commonwealth Avenue, now one of the finest streets in the world, is due almost entirely to his persistent efforts, along with Frederick Law Olmsted. Gilman designed the H. H. Hunnewell house (1851) in Wellesley (then West Needham)^[2] and, with Bryant, the Old City Hall in Boston (1862–65).

In 1865, he moved to New York City, where he designed the original Equitable Insurance Company's building, the Bennett Building for The New York Herald,^[3] and St. John's Church and parsonage^[4] circa 1869^[5] in Clifton, Staten Island.

Works

In addition to the projects mentioned above, he also designed:

• St. Paul's Church (1858), Dedham, Massachusetts^[6]
• Christ Church (1860), Brookline, Massachusetts
• Horticultural Hall (1865), Tremont St., Boston, Massachusetts, with Bryant

References

Notes

1. Wilson, James Grant. Fiske, John, eds. (1900). "Gilman, Arthur, architect", Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1990.
2. "Draft Open Space and Recreation Plan, 2015-2022, Town of Wellesley, MA" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-12.
3. Harris, Gale (November 21, 1995). "Bennett Building Designation Report" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
4. "St. John's P.E. Rectory, Staten Island | Historic Districts Council's Six to Celebrate". 6tocelebrate.org. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
5. "St. John's Episcopal Church :: Church History". www.stjohnssi.org. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
6. Dedham Historical Society (2001). Images of America: Dedham. Arcadia Publishing. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-7385-0944-0. Retrieved August 11, 2019.

Sources

• Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Gilman, Arthur, architect" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.

External links

• Benjamin J. Stark residence (New London, Conn.) : architectural drawings, 1866. Held by the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.