Francis Kimball
Encyclopedia
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
practicing in New York City
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...
, best known for his work on 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...
s in lower Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and terra-cotta ornamentation. He was an associate with the firm Kimball & Thompson
Kimball & Thompson
Kimball & Thompson was the name of an architectural partnership made up of Francis H. Kimball and G. Kramer Thompson from 1892 to 1898. They were early proponents of steel framed curtain-walled skyscrapers...
.
Life
Kimball was born in Kennebunk, MaineKennebunk, Maine
Kennebunk is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,075 people at the 2000 census. Including Kennebunkport , the population totals 14,196 people...
. He went on to study architecture in England, and his former Catholic Apostolic Church (New York City)
Catholic Apostolic Church (New York City)
The Church for All Nations, at 417 West 57th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, was built in 1886-87 for the Catholic Apostolic Church, an English group which believed in an imminent Second Coming...
(1897) was praised by influential architectural critic Montgomery Schuyler
Montgomery Schuyler
Montgomery Schuyler, AIA, was a highly influential critic, journalist and editorial writer in New York City who wrote about and influenced art, literature, music and architecture during the city's "Gilded Age." He was active as a journalist for over forty years but is principally noted as a highly...
as "no more scholarly Gothic work in New York."
Kimball was a pioneer in the use of ornamental terra-cotta in the United States, evident on the Corbin Building, on a striking row of townhouses that he designed at 133-143 West 122nd Street in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, and on the Montauk Club in Park Slope, Brooklyn. A 1917 New York Times article describing him as the "father of the skyscraper" notes his bankruptcy.
Works before 1892
- 26 Broadway26 Broadway26 Broadway is a 31-story, 159 m, 520 ft New York City Designated Landmark at the southern tip of Manhattan at Bowling Green...
(1885), later extensively renovated - Emmanuel Baptist Church (Brooklyn, New York)Emmanuel Baptist Church (Brooklyn, New York)Emmanuel Baptist Church is a Baptist church in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York on the northwest corner of Lafayette Avenue and St. James Place. It was built 1887 to designs by architect Francis H. Kimball in the Gothic Revival style "as a synthesis of the cathedral type and the...
(1887), NW corner of Lafayette Ave and St. James Place, Brooklyn, New York - Corbin BuildingCorbin BuildingThe historic Corbin Building is located at 192 Broadway in Manhattan. It was designed by architect Francis H. Kimball and built in 1888 and named for Austin Corbin, a president of the Long Island Rail Road...
on John Street, New York City (1888) - 133-143 West 122nd Street townhouses in HarlemHarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
- the Garrick TheaterGarrick Theatre (New York)The Garrick Theatre was a 910 seat theatre built in 1890 and located on 67 West 35th Street New York. Designed by Francis Hatch Kimball and commissioned by Edward Harrigan, who managed the theatre, originally named Harringan's Theatre, until 1895. Richard Mansfield took over from Harrigan, renaming...
, 67 West 35th Street, NYC (1890; razed 1932) - The Montauk ClubMontauk ClubThe Montauk Club is a private social club located at 25 Eighth Avenue in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood of New York City.The Club was founded in 1889 by prominent Brooklyn residents excited about Brooklyn's economic boom following the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. Founding members...
in Park Slope, BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
(1891) - The Reading TerminalReading TerminalThe Reading Terminal is a complex of buildings located in the Market East section of Center City in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States...
Headhouse in Philadelphia, PA (1891-93), which housed the offices of the Reading Railroad. - Fifth Avenue TheatreFifth Avenue TheatreFifth Avenue Theatre was a Broadway theatre in New York City in the United States located at 31 West 28th Street and Broadway. It was demolished in 1939....
, 31 West 28th Street, NYC (1892; razed 1939)
Works as part of Kimball & Thompson (1892-1898)
From 1892 to 1898, he was part of Kimball & ThompsonKimball & Thompson
Kimball & Thompson was the name of an architectural partnership made up of Francis H. Kimball and G. Kramer Thompson from 1892 to 1898. They were early proponents of steel framed curtain-walled skyscrapers...
which built:
- The Empire BuildingEmpire BuildingThe Empire Building at 71 Broadway, Manhattan, New York City is a 21 story steel framed curtain-wall skyscraper designed by Kimball & Thompson and built by Marc Eidlitz & Son in 1895. It is one of the earliest skyscrapers built on pneumatic caissons and one of the oldest still standing today. It...
(1895), 71 Broadway, - The Manhattan Life Insurance BuildingManhattan Life Insurance BuildingThe Manhattan Life Insurance Building was a tower at 64-66 Broadway in New York City completed in 1894 to the designs of the architects of Kimball & Thompson and slightly extended north in 1904 making its new address 64-70 Broadway...
, 1 Wall Street (demolished 1930) - The former Catholic Apostolic ChurchCatholic Apostolic Church (New York City)The Church for All Nations, at 417 West 57th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, was built in 1886-87 for the Catholic Apostolic Church, an English group which believed in an imminent Second Coming...
(1897), at 417 West 57th Street, now the Lutheran Church for All Nations.
Works after 1898 (Offices at 71 Broadway)
- 111 Fifth Avenue (1904), a "21-sty limestone and brick office building, 41.3×264.5 and irregular," for $1,250,000.00.
- 513-515 West 161st Street (1905), a "3-sty brk and stone engine house", for the city of NY at a cost of $62,000.
- Kimball and Harry E. DonnellHarry E. DonnellHarry Ellingwood Donnell was an American Beaux-Arts architect, who designed many commercial and residential structures in New York City and Long Island between 1894 and 1915.-Life:...
were the architects for the Brunswick Building, a 1906 Beaux-Arts building located on the site of the former Brunswick Hotel at 225 Fifth Avenue, on Madison Square Park (source: NYC Landmarks), now the Grand MadisonThe Grand MadisonThe Grand Madison, originally the Brunswick Building, is a landmarked historic building located at 225 Fifth Avenue in New York City, on 26th Street between Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue, on the north side of Madison Square Park... - Mills Buildings (1906), SE corner of Williams Street, an "11-sty brick and stone bank and office building" for the J & W Seligman & Co at a cost of $500,000.
- 111 Broadway (1906), SW corner of Broadway and Cedar St, a "21-sty brick and stone office building," for $3,000,000.00.
- the City Investing BuildingCity Investing BuildingThe City Investing Building was an early New York City skyscraper, one of the largest buildings of its era, erected in 1908, and razed in 1968....
, a 26-story skyscraper built near to the Singer Tower, 56 Cortland Street, between Broadway and Church Street (1906-08; razed 1968) - 142 Liberty Street (1909), a "3-sty and basement brick and reinforced concrete store and loft building" for A. L. White and F. M. Hilton of 62 Cedard St, at a cost of $15,000.
- Broadway and 57th St, SE corner, a "9-sty and basement brick and concrete garage" for the "Island Realty Co (R. G. Babbage, 111 Broadway, is president); B. M. Fellows, 111 Broadway, secretary (l) A.T. Demarest Co." for $150,000.
- 66 57th St and Broadway (1909), a "9-sty and basement concrete and brick garage" for $175,000.
- Broadway and the SE corner of Astor Place (1910), a "2-sty brick and stone loft,slag roof, copper skylights, wire glass, copper cornices, terra cotta blocks, steam heat, doors fireproofed, metal sash and frames, fireproof trim, limestone" for $300,000.
- The Adams Express BuildingAdams Express BuildingAdams Express Building is an office building located at 61 Broadway in lower Manhattan in New York City.- History :The architect was Francis Kimball. The building was built in 1912 on the property numbers 57-61 Broadway, with numbers 33-41 Trinity Place. It is a 32-story office building which cost...
s (1912), Nos. 57-61 Broadway and Nos. 33-41 Trinity Place, a 32-story office building for $2 million.