Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Benjamin Henry LATROBE
Benjamin Latrobe was the most distinguished architect of his generation in America. Educated in Germany and England, he emigrated to the USA in 1796. One of his first American commissions was to work with Thomas Jefferson in designing the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, a project for which Latrobe renewed the use of Greek architectural elements. He designed the Bank of Pennsylvania (1801) in Philadelphia in the form of a Greek Ionic temple, and for the Bank of the United States (1819-1826), later the Philadelphia Customs House, he followed the design of the Parthenon in Athens. Latrobe also drew plans for the first cathedral in the US, the neoclassical Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore (1804 - 1818). Appointed Surveyor of Public Buildings by Jefferson in 1803, Latrobe designed the south wing of the US Capitol and carried out alterations in the White House. After the British burned the Capitol during the War of 1812, he supervised its reconstruction and completion. He designed and executed (1799-1801) the Phildelphia water supply system, which served as a model for many subsequent municipal water systems. He died of yellow fever while supervising the construction of the New Orleans water-supply system.
In 1797, Latrobe recorded his recollections of the Sellon family upon his visit in 1790, when he was "courting" Lydia and asking her father for her hand. The marriage was brief, Lydia dying during the birth of their third child in 1793.
Latrobe's critical eye and unsparing wit give a hilarious picture of a family which can only be properly described as "dysfunctional" in modern parlance!
Some examples of Latrobe's domestic architecture in America
1796 William Pennock House, Norfolk, Virginia.
1798 Harvie-Gamble House, Richmond, Virginia.
1799 Sedgeley (in the Gothic style), Philadelphia.
1805-8 Waln House, Philadelphia.
1811 Pope House, Lexington, Kentucky.
Some examples of Latrobe's civic architecture in America
1797 Virginia State Penitentiary, Richmond.
1798 Project to build the Bank of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
1802 Designs restoration/rebuilding of Nassau Hall at Princeton
1804 Offers to donate his services in designing the Roman Catholic Cathedral at Baltimore.
1805 Draws up proposal for the wings between the President's House and the federal office buildings
1807 New Orleans Customs House
1809 Designs for decoration of the Madisons' public rooms at the President's House, Washington.
1815 Contracts to rebuild the burned U.S. Capitol
1816 With Maximilien Godefroy, wins competition to build the Baltimore Exchange.
1819 Commissioned to design the central tower of St Louis Cathedral, Missouri.
1820 Design for Louisiana State Bank accepted.
Some examples of Latrobe's engineering projects in America
1797 Consultant to Dismal Swamp Land, Virginia.
1799-1801 Philadelphia Waterworks
1801 Appointed engineer and contractor of the Susquehanna River Survey
1803 Begins survey for the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company
1804 Draws plans for Washington Canal
1811 Accepts franchise from the New Orleans City Council to
build a waterworks there; contract renewed every two years
until his death.
1814 Becomes contractor for the steam engine at a woollen mill in Steubenville, Ohio.
1820 Dies of Yellow Fever while working on the New Orleans Waterworks.
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