John Mills Van Osdel was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 architect

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...

 who is considered the first Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 architect. He is considered a peer of the most prominent architects in the history of Chicago

History of Chicago

The history of Chicago, Illinois, has played an important role in the history of the United States. Americans founded the city in 1832. The Chicago area's recorded history begins with the arrival of French explorers, missionaries and fur traders in the late 17th century...

. He has also done significant work throughout Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 and the Midwest

Midwestern United States

The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....

, although much of it no longer exists.

Chicago firsts

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Van Osdel planned the first architect-designed house in Chicago for the first Mayor of Chicago

Mayor of Chicago

The Mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of Chicago, Illinois, the third largest city in the United States. He or she is charged with directing city departments and agencies, and with the advice and consent of the Chicago City Council, appoints department and agency leaders.-Appointment...

, William Ogden

William Butler Ogden

William Butler Ogden was the first Mayor of Chicago.Ogden was born in Walton, New York. When still a teenager, his father died and Ogden took over the family real estate business...

. The house was located on Rush Street

Rush Street (Chicago)

Rush Street is predominantly a northbound one-way street in the Near North Side community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...

. Ogden commissioned Van Osdel, who came from New York to Chicago for the job. By 1844, he had opened Chicago's first architectural firm. In addition, he secured passage of the city's first building code.

Reputation

He is considered a Chicago school

Chicago school (architecture)

Chicago's architecture is famous throughout the world and one style is referred to as the Chicago School. The style is also known as Commercial style. In the history of architecture, the Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century...

 architect and a peer of William LeBaron Jenney, Dankmar Adler

Dankmar Adler

Dankmar Adler was a celebrated German-born American architect.-Early years:...

, Louis Sullivan

Louis Sullivan

Louis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism" He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an...

, Daniel Burnham

Daniel Burnham

Daniel Hudson Burnham, FAIA was an American architect and urban planner. He was the Director of Works for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He took a leading role in the creation of master plans for the development of a number of cities, including Chicago and downtown Washington DC...

, John Wellborn Root

John Wellborn Root

John Wellborn Root was an American architect who worked out of Chicago with Daniel Burnham. He was one of the founders of the Chicago School style...

 and Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...

. In fact, he and William W. Boyington

William W. Boyington

William W. Boyington was an architect who designed several notable structures in and around Chicago, Illinois. Originally from Massachusetts, W.W. Boyington studied engineering and architecture in the State of New York...

 are considered the most prominent Chicago architects of the period from the city's incorporation in 1837 until the Great Chicago Fire

Great Chicago Fire

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S...

 of 1871.

Other buildings

Much of his work has been destroyed by fire, but remaining structures stand as local landmarks, with many listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

. Van Osdel designed the Palmer House

Palmer House

The Palmer House Hilton is a famous and historic hotel in downtown Chicago.-History:There have been three Palmer House Hotels at the corner of State and Monroe Streets in Chicago....

, Tremont House

Tremont House (Chicago)

Tremont House was a leading hotel in Chicago, United States, that served as the Headquarters for the Illinois Republican Party during the 1860 Republican National Convention held at the nearby Wigwam as they lobbied for Abraham Lincoln's nomination. Both Lincoln and Stephen Douglas started...

 and Page Brothers Building

Page Brothers Building

The Page Brothers Building, 177-91 North State Street in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States, features the city's last remaining cast iron front on the north facade facing Lake Street...

 in Chicago, the Illinois Executive Mansion

Illinois Executive Mansion

The Illinois Executive Mansion is the official residence of the Governor of Illinois. It is located at 410 E. Jackson Street in Springfield, Illinois and is open to tours on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings, free of charge. The Georgian style Mansion was designed by Chicago architect John M....

 in Springfield

Springfield, Illinois

Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...

, the state capital, the Old McHenry County Courthouse

Old McHenry County Courthouse

The Old McHenry County Courthouse, in McHenry County, Illinois, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 1, 1974. Once the courthouse in the county seat of McHenry County, Woodstock, today the courthouse is occupied by various private tenants including a restaurant and an...

, Old Main

Old Main (University of Arkansas)

Old Main is the oldest building on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is one of the most recognizable symbols of the University , and of higher education in general in Arkansas.- History :Old Main was constructed between 1873 and 1875 as part of a land grant for the...

 at the University of Arkansas

University of Arkansas

The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...

, and some courthouse

Courthouse

A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...

s in Indiana. He also designed the first cast-iron building for the Lake Street central business district

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

. Chicago City Hall

Chicago City Hall

Chicago City Hall is the official seat of government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. Adjacent to the Richard J. Daley Center and the James R...

 sits on the site of a former Van Osdel building that housed a county courthouse and city hall. Van Osdel's 1872 McCarthy Building was demolished along with the rest of Block 37 in 1987 despite its Chicago Landmark

Chicago Landmark

Chicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural,...

status. Another work is St. Joseph County's Second Court House, 1854; South Bend St. Joseph County, Indiana.

Van Osdel died at age 80 in Chicago.

External links