Notable James Renwick, Jr. Buildings
Renwick, Jr. was an architect of buildings across the United States. He had a full and impressive forty-year-long career. Renwick, Jr. began as an engineer on the Croton Aqueduct and would eventually become the supervising architect for New York State's Commission of Charities and Correction, the government agency that oversaw public health and hospitals in the region.
Renwick sketch of the north tower of the Smithsonian Castle, 1846, Smithsonian Institution Archives
Architectural rendering by Ackerman's of the interior of Grace Church, New York City, Library of Congress
Timeline of James Renwick, Jr. and Important Building dates
1818
On November 11, James Renwick, Jr. is born in New York City
1836
Renwick, Jr. graduates from Columbia Engineering at the age of eighteen; Assistant engineer on the Croton Aqueduct in New York City
1842
Mark Twain House, 21 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York, (demolished 1953)
1843
Renwick, Jr. wins competition to design Grace Church, New York, New York
1847
Renwick, Jr. complete designs of Smithsonian Institution Building, commonly known as 'The Castle', Washington, DC
1848
Calvary Church, New York, New York
1854
Construction of the Smallpox Hospital begins, Blackwell Island, New York
1858
Construction of St. Patrick’s Cathedral begins, New York, New York
1859
Corcoran Gallery of Art (commonly known as the Renwick Gallery), Washington, DC
1861
Vassar College (Main Building), Poughkeepsie, New York & City Hospital, Blackwell Island, New York
1866
St. Ann’s Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, New York
1872
The Lighthouse on Roosevelt Island, New York, New York
1895
On June 29, James Renwick, Jr. dies at the age of 76, buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York
Gallery of Images from the Library of Congress
