John Rochester Thomas

John Rochester Thomas (1848–1901) was an American architect credited in his time with being the nation's most prolific designer of public and semi-public buildings.

His work was characterized by originality, moderation and dignity, according to The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography of 1899: "Judged by the artistic quality of his work and by his achievements in accomplishing repeatedly what others have declared impossible, he well deserves the title of America's leading architect."

Among his works are college buildings, prisons, armories, dozens of churches, and New York's Surrogate's Courthouse, his early 20th century Beaux Arts masterpiece based on his award-winning plan for a new City Hall that was never constructed.

Thomas was born in Rochester, New York on June 18, 1848, where he was educated in the city's schools until 1862, when his father's business failure obliged him to seek employment.

He decided to become an architect and entered the office of Merwin Austin of Rochester, subsequently pursuing a university course under the direction of Dr. Martin Brewer Anderson, president of the University of Rochester. After spending some time studying the architecture of European countries, Thomas entered professional practice in Rochester in 1868.

In 1877 he married Julia Hortense. They had four daughters and one son.

Notable buildings erected between 1870 and 1880 include Sibley Hall of the University of Rochester, the buildings of the Rochester Theological Seminary, and the natural history museum, Brooks Hall, of the University of Virginia.

In 1874 Gov. John A. Dix appointed him architect and sole commissioner for the erection of the state reformatory at Elmira, under a special law. This was the first instance in New York where this method of fixing individual responsibility had been tried. He was retained in office by Gov. Samuel J. Tilden, and saved the state about $1,000,000. The reformatory prison erected was considered a model the world over.

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