Name James Bogardus Role Architect | Known for Cast iron | |
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Born March 14, 1800Catskill (town), New York ( 1800-03-14 ) Structures Hopkins Store, Kitchen, Montross & Wilcox Store, 254-260 Canal Street, Harper Brothers Building, Laing Store | ||
James Bogardus
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.
Contents
- James Bogardus
- Cast Iron Architecture in America The Significance of James Bogardus Norton Books for Architects De
- Early life
- Career
- Personal life
- Legacy
- Bogardus buildings
- References
Cast Iron Architecture in America The Significance of James Bogardus Norton Books for Architects De
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 Netherlands.
At the age of fourteen, Bogardus quit school to start an apprenticeship at a watchmaker.
Career
In 1828, Bogardus invented a cotton-spinning machine called a ring flier. In 1831, He invented a mechanized engraving machine that was employed for engraving dies for bank notes. He also invented the eccentric mill in 1832, which is still used in principle for fine finish of ball bearings, and, with variable eccentricity, for lens grinding.
Bogardus attached plaques to his cast-ironwork that read: "James Bogardus Originator & Patentee of Iron Buildings Pat' May 7, 1850." After his invention of cast-iron in the early 1850s, he demonstrated the use of it in the construction of building facades, especially in New York City for the next two decades. He was based in New York, but also worked in Washington, DC, where three cast-iron structures erected by Bogardus in 1851 were the first such constructions in the capital. The success of the cast-iron exteriors from 1850-1880 led to the adoption of steel-frame construction for entire buildings.
Personal life
He married Margaret McClay (1803–1878), the daughter of Daughter of Rev. Archiblad Maclay.
Bogardus died in New York City aged 74. Bogardus is interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.
Legacy
A small park in TriBeCa, where Chambers Street, Hudson Street and West Broadway (Manhattan) intersect is named James Bogardus Triangle.