J. Riely Gordon
| James Riely Gordon | |
|---|---|
Arizona State Capitol Building
Designed by James Riely Gordon |
|
| Born |
August 2, 1863 Winchester, Virginia |
| Died | March 16, 1937 (aged 73) Pelham, New York |
| Cause of death | Stroke |
| Other names | J. Riely Gordon |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Known for | Historic courthouses |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Lamar Sprigg |
| Children | One daughter |
James Riely Gordon (August 2, 1863 – March 16, 1937) was an architect who practiced in San Antonio until 1902 and then in New York City, where he established a national reputation. J. Riely Gordon is best known for his landmark county courthouses, in particular those in Texas. Working during the state's "Golden Age" (1883-1898) of courthouse construction, Gordon saw 18 of his designs erected from 1885 to 1901; today 12 remain.
Gordon was born in Winchester, Virginia, to George Muir and Sarah Virginia (Riely) Gordon. When he was 11 his family moved to San Antonio. At 16 he began working in the engineering office of the International and Great Northern Railroad.
In 1882, Gordon apprenticed to W.K. Dodson of Waco (not to be confused with W.C. Dodson, himself a designer of courthouses). Soon after Gordon went to work for the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury, the agency responsible for the design of federal court buildings, customs houses, post offices, etc. In 1887 he returned to San Antonio to supervise construction of that city's U.S. Post Office and Courthouse (replaced in 1937). Gordon was essentially self-educated in his art, learning on his jobs, but never attending a school of architecture.
In 1891, Gordon and his then partner, D.E. Laub, won first prize of $1,000 in a country-wide competition to design the new Bexar County Courthouse; shortly afterwards they ended their partnership. The building met with popular acclaim.
J. Riely Gordon's specialty while practicing in Texas was public buildings, though he also designed houses and commercial structures. He became a master of the Romanesque Revival style that had been introduced to great acclaim by Henry Hobson Richardson with his Trinity Church in Boston in 1877. Returning to the roots of the style in the medieval Auvergne Region of France, Gordon is said to have "out-Richardsonianed Richardson" with his finest Romanesque work in Decatur and Waxahachie, Texas.
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