Bradford Gilbert
Encyclopedia
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Gilbert is best known for designing the first steel-framed curtain wall building, the Tower Building, which opened at 50 Broadway in 1889. The Tower Building is considered New York City's first skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
. There is some dispute as to whether the Tower Building had eleven or thirteen floors, depending on which floors were counted and which side of the building was considered. It had to have the steel-frame construction because on its narrow lot, masonry-supporting walls would have allowed almost no free space on the first floor. Gilbert's design used the same frame as a railroad bridge, but rotated vertically. The Tower Building was initially greeted with great skepticism, with members of the public predicting it would blow over. This prompted Gilbert to scale the building in the middle of an 1889 hurricane to demonstrate with a plumb line that the building was not vibrating. The building was razed in 1914.
Born in Watertown, New York, Gilbert had been appointed architect of the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad by the age of 23. Among his extensive work for multiple railroads across the country, Gilbert also designed a previous version of New York City's Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
in 1898. Most of his New York buildings have been demolished, but his landmark eleven story Flatiron Building (1898) still stands in Atlanta, Georgia, and predates the similar and more famous New York City Flatiron Building
Flatiron Building
The Flatiron Building, or Fuller Building, as it was originally called, is located at 175 Fifth Avenue in the borough of Manhattan, New York City and is considered to be a groundbreaking skyscraper. Upon completion in 1902 it was one of the tallest buildings in the city and the only skyscraper...
by five years.
Gilbert was also the supervising architect for the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition (1895)
Cotton States and International Exposition (1895)
The 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition was held at the current Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia. It is most remembered for the speech given by Booker T. Washington on September 18, 1895....
and the South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition
South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition
The South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition, commonly called the Charleston Exposition or the West Indian Exposition, was a regional trade exposition held in Charleston, South Carolina from December 1, 1901 to June 20, 1902....
(1901).
Selected works
(listed by year built)- Southside Sportsmens Club, Great River, New YorkGreat River, New YorkGreat River is a hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The name derives from "Connetquot", an Algonquian word for "great river". It was formerly known as Youngsport and was once home to many aristocratic families...
, 1866 - Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad East Saginaw DepotFlint and Pere Marquette Railroad East Saginaw DepotThe Flint & Pere Marquette Union Station, commonly known as the Potter Street Station, is a railroad station built in 1881 and located at 501 Potter Street in Saginaw, Michigan. It was designed by New York architect, Bradford Lee Gilbert...
, Saginaw, MichiganSaginaw, MichiganSaginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan...
, 1881 - Tower Building, New York, New York, 1889, razed 1914
- Central Railroad & Rockaway Valley R.R. StationWhite House (NJT station)White House is a New Jersey Transit railroad station on the Raritan Valley Line, in the village of Whitehouse Station in Readington, New Jersey. The station is on the east side of Main Street in the center and the station building has subsequently been turned into a branch library for the...
, Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, 1890 - Laconia Passenger StationLaconia Passenger StationLaconia Passenger Station is a historic railroad station in Laconia, New Hampshire built for the Boston and Maine in 1892. Bradford Gilbert, the station's architect, is best known for designing the first steel-framed curtain wall building, the Tower Building in New York, but also designed a number...
, Laconia, New HampshireLaconia, New HampshireAs of the census of 2000, there were 16,411 people, 6,724 households, and 4,168 families residing in the city. The population density was 809.3 people per square mile . There were 8,554 housing units at an average density of 421.8 per square mile...
, 1892 - Old Colony Railroad Depot, Canton JunctionCanton Junction (MBTA station)Canton Junction is a railway station on the MBTA Commuter Rail's Providence/Stoughton line, located a few hundred yards north of the Canton Viaduct. At Canton Junction the two branches of the Providence/Stoughton Line split, one going to T. F...
, Canton, MassachusettsCanton, MassachusettsCanton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,561 at the 2010 census. Canton is part of Greater Boston, about 15 miles southwest of downtown Boston.- History :...
, 1892 - New York, New Haven and Hartford Depot, Bridgewater, MassachusettsBridgewater, MassachusettsFor geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Bridgewater, please see the article Bridgewater , Massachusetts.The Town of Bridgewater is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, 28 miles south of Boston. At the 2000 Census, the population was 25,185...
, 1893 - New York, New Haven and Hartford DepotNorth Abington DepotNorth Abington Depot is an historic site on Railroad Street in North Abington, Massachusetts. It is located across from the intersection of Harrison Avenue and Railroad Street, along what is today the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Plymouth/Kingston Line.The site was built in 1894 and...
, North Abington, Massachusetts, 1894 - Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad Depot, Sedalia, MissouriSedalia, MissouriSedalia is a city located about south of the Missouri River in Pettis County, Missouri. U.S. Highway 50 and U.S. Highway 65 intersect in the city. As of 2006, the city had a total population of 20,669. It is the county seat of Pettis County. The Sedalia Micropolitan Statistical Area consists of...
, 1895 - Flatiron BuildingFlatiron Building (Atlanta)The English-American Building, commonly referenced as the Flatiron Building, is a building completed in 1897 located at 84 Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, on the wedge-shaped block between Peachtree Street NE, Poplar Street NW, and Broad Street NW, also creating a one-block break...
, Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, 1897 - Boston & Maine RR Passenger Station, Beverly, MassachusettsBeverly, MassachusettsBeverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 39,343 on , which differs by no more than several hundred from the 39,862 obtained in the 2000 census. A resort, residential and manufacturing community on the North Shore, Beverly includes Beverly Farms and Prides...
, 1897 - Central Station, for the Illinois Central RailroadIllinois Central RailroadThe Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...
, Chicago, Illinois, 1893, razed 1974 - D.,L. & W. R.R. Passenger StationBernardsville (NJT station)Bernardsville Station is a New Jersey Transit station in Bernardsville, New Jersey along the Gladstone Branch of the Morris and Essex line.- Physical facilities :...
, Bernardsville, New JerseyBernardsville, New JerseyBernardsville is a borough and affluent suburb in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. Bernardsville has the 10th-highest per capita income in the state. Nationwide, Bernardsville ranks 75th among the 100 highest-income places in the United States...
, 1901 - William G. Raoul House, Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, 1901 (destroyed by fire in 1991)
Gilbert was also heavily involved in the work of Jerry McAuley
Jerry McAuley
Jerry McAuley , along with his wife, Maria, was the founder of the McAuley Water Street Mission in New York City...
at the Water Street Rescue Mission in New York and continued to support the mission after McAuley's death. Gilbert married Maria McAuley, McAuley's widow, eight years after McAuley died of tuberculosis.