James bogardus biography

James Bogardus

American inventor and architect

James Bogardus

Newspaper photograph

Born(1800-03-14)March 14, 1800

Catskill, New York, U.S.

DiedApril 13, 1874(1874-04-13) (aged 74)

New York City, New York, U.S.

Known forCast-iron
SpouseMargaret MacClay

James Bogardus (March 14, 1800 – April 13, 1874) was an American inventor and architect, the pioneer of American cast-iron architecture, for which he took out a patent in 1850.[1]

Early life

Bogardus was born in the town of Catskill in New York on March 14, 1800. He was a descendant of the Rev. Everardus Bogardus (d. 1647), the second clergyman in New York.

At the age of fourteen, Bogardus quit school to start an apprenticeship at a watchmaker.[2]

Career

Bogardus was working in Savannah, Georgia, during 1822 and 1823.[3]

In 1828, Bogardus invented a cotton-spinning machine called a ring flier.[4] In 1831, he invented a mechanized engraving machine that was employed for engraving dies for bank notes. He also invented

Bogardus, James

Bogardus, James(1800–74). American inventor, designer, engineer, and industrialist. In 1847 he exhibited a model of a prefabricated iron factory, and was commissioned (1848) to make an ornamental five-storey iron façade for Dr John Milhau's (1785–1874) drug-store on Broadway, NYC, the first of several other fronts, which had a profound influence on the development of cast-iron construction, prefabricated cast-iron structural frames, and kits-of-parts that could be quickly assembled on site. He proposed an exhibition-house for the 1853 New YorkExposition which was to have had a roof suspended from a central tower. He published Cast Iron Buildings: Their Construction and Advantages(1856, revised 1858). Regrettably, most of his work has been destroyed, but a few buildings survive: two in Manhattanand one in Cooperstown, NY.

Bibliography

Benevolo (1971);
Bogardus (1856);
Condit (1968);
Gayle & and Gillon (1974)

A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape ArchitectureJAMES STEVENS CURL

James Bogardus Biography (1800-1874)

Nationality
American
Gender
Male
Occupation
inventor

Architecture underwent a significant transformation during the 1800s. At thebeginning of the century, the heavy walls of a building were designed to bearthe load of the entire structure. By the end of the century, facades of brick and masonry were built upon skeletal frames which supported the weight of the structure. The modern architecture movement had begun.

An early leader in this movement was James Bogardus. Bogardus was born in Catskill, New York in 1800. As a young man, he became a prolific inventor and alecturer on technical subjects. He became interested in architecture on a trip to Europe in 1836, where he was influenced by the form and function of Europe's classic structures. Upon returning to the United States in 1940, he established a foundry in New York City which produced prefabricated cast-iron beams and columns that could be shipped anywhere and then easily assembled or disassembled at the building site. This new method was fully demonstrated in the construction of

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