George Browne Post | |
---|---|
6th President of the American Institute of Architects | |
In office 1896–1898 |
|
Preceded by | Daniel H. Burnham |
Succeeded by | Henry Van Brunt |
Personal details | |
Born |
Manhattan, New York |
December 15, 1837
Died | November 28, 1913 Bernardsville, New Jersey |
(aged 75)
Spouse(s) | Alice Matilda Stone (m. 1863) |
Parents | Joel Browne Post Abby Mauran Church |
George Browne Post (December 15, 1837 – November 28, 1913) was an American architect trained in the Beaux-Arts tradition. Many of his most characteristic projects were for commercial buildings where new requirements pushed the traditional boundaries of design. Many of them have also been demolished, since their central locations in New York and other cities made them vulnerable to rebuilding in the twentieth century. Some of his lost buildings were landmarks of their era, nevertheless. His eight-story Equitable Life Assurance Society (1868–70), was the first office building designed to use elevators; Post himself leased the upper floors when contemporaries predicted they could not be rented. His Western Union Telegraph Building (1872–75) at Dey Street in Lower Manhattan, was the first office building to rise as high as ten stories, a forerunner of skyscrapers to come. When it was erected in "Newspaper Row" facing City Hall Park, Post's twenty-story New York World Building (1889–90) was the tallest building in New York City.
He was born on December 15, 1837 in Manhattan, New York to Joel Browne Post and Abby Mauran Church.
He graduated from New York University in 1858 with a degree in civil engineering. He then became a student of Richard Morris Hunt from 1858 to 1860. In 1860 he formed a partnership with a fellow-student in Hunt's office, Charles D. Gambrill, with a brief hiatus for service in the Civil War. He married Alice Matilda Stone (1840-1909) on October 14, 1863. They had five children: George Browne, Jr., William Stone, Allison Wright, James Otis and Alice Winifred.
At the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois in 1893, Post was named to the architectural staff by Burnham and Root. He designed the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building.