John McArthur, Jr.

John McArthur Jr (1823–1890) was a prominent American architect based in Philadelphia. Best remembered as the architect of the landmark Philadelphia City Hall, McArthur also designed some of the city's most ambitious buildings of the Civil War era. Few of his buildings survive.

John McArthur, Jr., was born in Bladenock, Scotland, on 13 May 1823, and came to the United States with his family when he was ten years old. Much of his mature style was characterized by Italianate and Second Empire forms and several of his best-known buildings feature mansard roofs, which he helped to introduce and popularize in the United States. During the American Civil War, McArthur planned 24 temporary war hospitals, including Fort Delaware's 600-bed hospital on Pea Patch Island.

Philadelphia has looked up to McArthur’s architecture for more than a century. The 250-foot-tall tower-and-spire of his Tenth Presbyterian Church (1854) was the tallest structure in the city when built. (Its 150-foot wooden spire was removed in 1912.) Later, this was surpassed by the tower of City Hall (1874–1901), whose 548 feet (167 meters) made it the tallest occupied building in the world when completed. Until the late 20th century, an unwritten agreement among Philadelphia architects kept all buildings shorter than the top of the statue of William Penn atop McArthur’s tower.

A Presbyterian and a member of Tenth Church, McArthur was married to Matilda Prevost; they had two sons and two daughters.

McArthur died in Philadelphia on January 8, 1890.

This is a partial list.

La Pierre House, 100 block of South Broad St., Philadelphia (1856, demolished)

Continental Hotel, SE corner 9th & Chestnut Sts., Philadelphia (1857-1860, demolished).

Franklin Farmers' Market, 100 block Market St., Philadelphia (1859, demolished).

Wagner Free Institute of Science (1859–65), second-floor Hall and galleries.

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