George Browne Post

Post, George Browne (1837-1913) Union army officer, born in New York City. Post trained as a civil engineer and enjoyed a successful career as an architect. During the Civil War he served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Ambrose Burnside and, as a member of the National Guard after the conclusion of the war, reached the rank of colonel.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

(b New York, 15 Dec 1837; d Bernardsville, NJ, 28 Nov 1913). American architect. A major architect of the skyscraper (see SKYSCRAPER,

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American architect and engineer who contributed to the origin and development of the early skyscraper from c.1870. Architecturally eclectic and competent, he was more noted for his grasp of planning and structural principles. He designed many hotels, and evolved the modern hotel-plan with a bath in each room (e.g. Statler Hotel, Buffalo, NY (1911–12)). He contributed to the design of the Equitable Life Assurance Building, NYC (1868–70—destroyed), one of the very first structures designed with a lift or elevator, thus helping to develop the planning and organization of tall buildings. The Western Union Building, NYC (1873–5—demolished), was, with Hunt's Tribune Building, one of the earliest skyscrapers, essentially Classical in its arrangement of a base, middle section (shaft), and crowning element (cornice). The monumental New York Produce Exchange (1881–5—destroyed) was constructed with a complete metal structure within outer load-bearing walls, and influenced Sullivan. His Stock Exchange, New York (1901–3—probably his best-known surviving building, has a handsome Corinthian in antis pedimented front. Other works included the Vanderbilt House (1879–94), Pulitzer Building (1889–90), and St Paul Building (1897–9), all destroyed, and all in NYC Post's earliest buildings (e.g. the domed Williamsburgh (later Republic) Savings Bank, Brooklyn, NYC (1869–75), and the Savings Bank, Troy, NY (1981–5) ), were in a French Second Empire style. His State Capitol, Madison, WI (1906–17—Classical) and City College, NYC (1897–1907—Gothic, with faïence cladding) were works of some distinction.

Bibliography

• Condit (1960, 1961)
• Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians xii/1 (Mar. 1953) 13–21, xxxi/3 (Oct. 1972), 176–203, and xlvi/4 (Dec. 1987), 342–55
• S.Landau (1998)
• S.Landau & Condit (1996)
• Placzek (ed.) (1982)
• Sturgis et al. (1971a)
• Helen Searing (ed.) (1983)
• Jane Turner (1996)
• Whiffen &Koeper (1983)

The full bibliography for this book is available to download as a pdf file.
Download the bibliography for A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (PDF: 1.2MB)