William Strickland (Navesink, New Jersey, November 1788 - Nashville, Tennessee, April 6, 1854), was a noted architect in nineteenth-century Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Nashville. He is noted as one of the founders of the Gothic revival movement when in 1823 he built Saint Stephen's Church in Philadelphia. He was primarily a Greek Revival architect, using the plates of The Antiquities of Athens for his inspiration, but he also made use of Gothic, Egyptian, Saracenic and Italianate styles.
Strickland was also a civil engineer and one of the first to advocate the use of steam locomotives on railways. In his youth he was a landscape painter, illustrator for periodicals, theatrical scene painter, engraver, and pioneer aquatintist. He later moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where his Egyptian-influenced design of the First Presbyterian Church (now the Downtown Presbyterian Church) was controversial but today is widely recognized as a masterpiece and an important evocation of the Egyptian Revival style.
Strickland's design for the Second Bank of the United States in Philadelphia (1819-1824) beat out the design of his teacher, Benjamin Latrobe. Although Strickland was still copying classical prototypes at this point, the Second Bank is an ambitious building modeled on the greatest Greek design: The Parthenon of Athens. The competition had called for "chaste" Greek style: Strickland's elegant Greek temple design is a fitting result. The architect clearly saw this building as one of his major accomplishments, as he had it included as the background of the portrait that Philadelphia society painter John Neagle did of Strickland in 1829 (Yale University Art Gallery)
Comparison of the Second Bank of the U.S. with the later Merchants' Exchange (1832-4), also in Philadelphia, reveals the growth of Strickland's talent and confidence as an architect. With the Merchant Exchange, Strickland still had a classical example in mind (the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates), but created a unique building, specifically styled to fit the siting. The Merchant's Exchange was to be placed in a slightly awkward location, at the intersection of two major thoroughfares, in between the waterfront and the business district. The elegant curved façade reflects the carriage and foot traffic that would have been circulating in front of the building. This elevation, which faces toward the waterfront, is unique, Greek Revival, but modern, while the more formal elevation can be found on the opposite side of the building, facing the rest of Philadelphia. Strickland's maturity as an architect is demonstrated in this building, showing that America's architects were truly innovating, rather than copying old European classics.
Another of Strickland's buildings was the National Mechanic Bank at 22 South 3rd St. The bank's construction began in 1836 on a narrow plot between two taller neighbors. Strickland took the narrow space, however, and used strong, square pilasters to support the portico as well as ornate stone carving at their tops to defend the building against its taller and bulkier neighbors. The building is one of Strickland's smallest and has since gone through several changes of ownership. The building is now occupied by National Mechanics Bar and Restaurant. It was one of Strickland's last Philadelphia buildings.
William Levitt (Early Railways 3, 2006) argues that Strickland's observations made during visits to England in the 1820s were highly influential in the transfer of railway technology to the United States.
Strickland is buried within the walls of his final, and arguably greatest work, the Tennessee State Capitol.
Selected works
Philadelphia buildings
- Masonic Hall, Philadelphia (1808-11, demolished 1855).
- Second Bank of the United States, Philadelphia (1819-24).
- St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Philadelphia (1822-23).
- Musical Fund Hall, The Musical Fund Society, Philadelphia (1824, substantially altered).
- Holy Trinity Romanian Orthodox Church, Philadelphia.
- Second Congregation Mikveh Israel Synagogue, Philadelphia (1825, demolished).
- United States Naval Asylum, Philadelphia (1826-33, now condominiums).
- Restoration of the tower of Independence Hall, Philadelphia (1828).
- First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia, (1828)
- University of Pennsylvania (9th street buildings), Philadelphia (1829).
- United States Mint, Philadelphia (1829-33, demolished 1902).
- Merchants' Exchange, Philadelphia (1832-34).
Buildings elsewhere
- College of Charleston, Main Building (now Randolph Hall), Charleston, South Carolina (1828, extensively altered 1850).
- U.S. Branch Mint, Charlotte, North Carolina (1835, moved to new location 1930s). Now Mint Museum of Art.
- U.S. Branch Mint, Dahlonega, Georgia (1835, burned 1878).
- U.S. Branch Mint, New Orleans, Louisiana (1835-38).
- Providence Athenaeum, Providence, Rhode Island (1837-38).
- St. Mary's Catholic Church, Nashville, Tennessee (1845-7).
- Tennessee State Capitol, Nashville, Tennessee (1845-59).
- Second Presbyterian Church, Nashville, Tennessee (1846, demolished 1979).
- Wilson County Courthouse, Lebanon, Tennessee (1848, burned 1881).
- First Presbyterian Church, Nashville, Tennessee (1848-49).
- Belmont Mansion, Nashville, Tennessee (1849-53). Now Acklen Hall, Belmont University.
Gallery
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University of Pennsylvania (9th Street buildings), Philadelphia, PA (1829, demolished).
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United States Mint, Philadelphia, PA (1829-33, demolished 1902).
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References
