Upjohn, Richard (1802-1878)

Upjohn, Richard (1802-1878)

Upjohn, Richard, 1802-1878

Renowned for church architecture, Upjohn was influential in the spread of Gothic Revival in America. Born in Shaftesbury, in Dorset, England, he initially trained as a cabinet-maker. In 1829 he came to the U.S. and settled in Boston where he started to work as an architect under Alexander Parris. By 1834 he was able to start his own firm, making his name by designing Gothic churches, the most notable of which is the brownstone Gothic Revival Trinity Church in New York (completed 1846). In 1852, he published a book of his designs, Upjohn's Rural Architecture. Other works include St. John’s Church in Bangor, Maine (1837–39), City Hall, Utica, New York (1852–53), St Luke’s Episcopal Church, Ascension, Brooklyn (1867–71), St. Mary’s, Burlington, New Jersey (1846–54), Bowdoin College Chapel, Brunswick, Maine (1844–55), and Trinity Chapel, New York (1853). Upjohn’s Church of the Ascension, New York (1840-41) had its interior remodeled by Stanford White in 1885-89, which brought a monumental mural by John La Farge in 1888. Upjohn was instrumental in setting up the American Institute of Architects and was its first president.

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