William Nichols (architect)

William Nichols
Old Mississippi State Capitol building in 2010
Born	1780 Bath, England
Died	December 12, 1853 Lexington, Mississippi
Occupation	Architect
Buildings	Old North Carolina State Capitol Old Alabama State Capitol Old Mississippi State Capitol

William Nichols, Sr. (1780 – December 12, 1853) was an English-born architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his early Neoclassical-style buildings in the American South. He is best known for designing early statehouses for North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi.

William Nichols was born in 1780 in Bath, a center for English Palladian and Adam-style architecture in the 18th century. He was brought up in a family of builders, learning the trade through them. Nichols emigrated to North Carolina in 1800, initially settling in the New Bern area. He married Mary Rew in 1805 and had taken his first apprentice by 1806. His earliest commissions in the area remain unclear, although several buildings have been suggested as candidates. He applied for American citizenship in 1813, and in 1815, following the death of his first wife, married Sarah Simons.

In 1818 Nichols was employed as state architect of North Carolina. This made him responsible for new state buildings and for repairs and improvements to existing ones. His most important commission during this time, however, was a complete remodeling of the old North Carolina State House, which he completed in 1822. Incorporating Palladian and early Greek Revival elements, it included a new central rotunda surmounted by a dome. The Senate chamber and House of Commons both included galleries supported by Ionic columns. Widely admired at the time, it drew the praise of fellow architect Ithiel Town. Another of his jobs was the 1825 remodeling of the Governor's Palace at the end of Fayetteville Street in Raleigh, which included the addition of a monumental Ionic portico. It was abandoned following the Civil War and eventually demolished. Nichols was involved in numerous private projects during this time, as well as projects at the University of North Carolina.