User:JPRiley/Dwight
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Benjamin F. Dwight was an American architect practicing in Boston, Massachusetts.
Life and career
Benjamin Franklin Dwight was born September 5, 1824 in Boston, to John and Mary (Corey) Dwight.Benjamin Woodbridge Dwight, The History of the Descendants of John Dwight, of Dedham, Mass., vol. 2 (Clinton, NY: Benjamin W. Dwight, 1874) Dwight was educated at the Boston Latin School, graduating in 1844.Catalogue of the Boston Public Latin School. With an Historical Sketch (Boston: Boston Latin School Association, 1886) After a brief stint in the mercantile trade, he entered the office of architect George Snell as a student, and later became his chief assistant. Dwight was with Snell when Snell was designing the Boston Music Hall. Snell left soon after the building contracts were signed, embarking on a research trip to England. Dwight supervised construction of the foundations in his absence."The Boston Music Hall-Its Favorable Site-Execution of the Design," Dwight's Journal of Music 2, no. 7 (November 20 1852): 53-54.
After the Music Hall was completed Dwight left Snell to etablish his own practice. He then joined the office of Arthur Gilman in 1854. This partnership lasted only until 1855, and Dwight returned to his own practice. He continued to work up until his death, which occured in Boston in 1893."Death of B. F. Dwight, Architect," American Architect and Building News 42, no. 929 (October 14 1893): 13.
Dwight was elected to fellowship in the Boston Society of Architects in 1867, which became affiliated with the American Institute of Architects in 1870. He retired from the organization in 1879.H. Langford Warren, "Annual Report of the Boston Chamber A. I. A.," Proceedings of the Twenty-seventh Annual Convention of the American Institute of Architects, ed. Alfred Stone (Chicago: Inland Architect Press, 1893): 49-57.
Personal life
Dwight was in ill health for much of his life, and in his later career this required him to scale back his practice.
Dwight was the younger brother of John Sullivan Dwight, the influential music critic and publisher of Dwight's Journal of Music. Dwight and his family were descendants of John Dwight, who immigrated to Massachusetts in 1635.
Legacy
From before 1862 and from 1865 to 1870, John A. Fox was employed in Dwight's office."Fox, John A.," Boston of To-day: A Glance at its History and Characteristics (Boston: Post Publishing Company, 1892): 230.
Architectural works
- Exeter Town Hall,{{efn|name=Dwight|Credited to the partnership of Gilman & Dwight.}}{{efn|name=Exeter|A contributing property to the Front Street Historic District, NRHP-listed in 1973.}} Exeter, New Hampshire (1855)Roger G. Reed, Building Victorian Boston: The Architecture of Gridley J. F. Bryant (Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 2006)
- Allston Hall,{{efn|name=Allston|Later known as the New Tremont Theatre and incorporated into the Studio Building in 1865.}} Boston, Massachusetts (1859, demolished 1922)"The Artists' Receptions," Dwight's Journal of Music 16, no. 20 (February 11 1860): 367.
- House for Lewis Day, Norwood, Massachusetts (1859, altered 1890-92, NRHP 1977)John M. Grove, [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Norwood/jL4XxYaQkJEC?hl=en&gbpv=0 Norwood] (Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2000)
- 266 Washington Street building, Boston, Massachusetts (1864, demolished 1901)"City Affairs," Boston Daily Advertiser, March 8 1864, 1."Old House in Boston," Historical Magazine 8, no. 5 (May 1864): 182-183.
- Gloucester City Hall,{{efn|name=Gloucester|Replaced by a building designed by Bryant & Rogers.}} Gloucester, Massachusetts (1866-68, burned 1869)James F. O'Gorman, "Two Granite Tents at Bay View on Cape Ann" in Essex Institute Historical Collections 118, no. x (October, 1982): 241-247.
- "Homestead" for Benjamin F. Butler, Annisquam, Massachusetts (1866-67)
- Selwyn's Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts (1867, burned 1873)"Theatre Improvements," Boston Daily Advertiser, January 30 1867, 1.Boston Illustrated, ed. Edwin M. Bacon (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Company, 1886)
- Soldiers' Monument, Ashfield Plain Cemetery, Ashfield, Massachusetts (1867)[https://mhc-macris.net/#!/details?mhcid=ASF.907 Historic Monument Detail: ASF.907]
- Soldiers' Monument, Allen Park, Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts (1867)"Dorchester," Boston Daily Advertiser, September 17 1867, 1.
- National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Eastern Branch,{{efn|name=Togus|Though mostly demolished during the 1930s, the Governor's House, designed by Dwight, is still standing and was NRHP-listed in 1974.}} Togus, Maine (1868-69, mostly demolished)James W. North, The History of Augusta (Augusta, ME: Clapp and North, 1870)
- "Oak View" for Francis O. Winslow, Norwood, Massachusetts (1868)[https://mhc-macris.net/#!/details?mhcid=NRD.186 Historic Building Detail: NRD.186]
- Worcester Music Hall,{{efn|name=Worcester|Later known as the Worcester Theatre.}} Worcester, Massachusetts (1869, burned 1889)"The Worcester Music Hall," Boston Daily Advertiser, March 10 1869, 1.
- Berkeley Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts (1870, demolished 1905)"City Affairs," Boston Daily Advertiser, April 26 1870, 4.
- Kenduskeag Block, Bangor, Maine (1870, burned 1911)"Local and Other Items," Bangor (ME) Daily Whig and Courier, November 29 1870, 3.
- 227 Tremont Street building, Boston, Massachusetts (1873, demolished)"Real Estate," Boston Daily Globe, March 17 1873, 5.
- Globe Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts (1873-74, burned 1894)
- 28 Avery Street building, Boston, Massachusetts (1874-75, demolished)[https://mhc-macris.net/#!/details?mhcid=BOS.2237 Historic Building Detail: BOS.2237]
- Hathaway Building, Boston, Massachusetts (1887-88, demolished)Charles S. Damrell, [https://archive.org/details/halfcenturyofbos00damr/ A Half Century of Boston Building] (Boston: Louis P. Hager, 1895)
- Sheldon Building, Boston, Massachusetts (1891-92, demolished)
Gallery of architectural works
{{Gallery
|title=|align=center
|File:Exeter Town Hall.jpg
|Exeter Town Hall, Exeter, New Hampshire, 1855.
|File:Boston Journal Office (Boston Public Library).jpg
|266 Washington Street building (right), Boston, Massachusetts, 1864.
|File:First parish and soldiers monument 2002.jpg
|Soldiers' Monument, Allen Park, Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts, 1867.
|File:Image from page 301 of "The New England magazine" (1887) (14782056571).jpg
|General view, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Togus, Maine, 1868-69.
|File:TogusME VA GovernorsHouse 02.jpg
|Governor's House, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Togus, Maine, 1868-69.
|File:GlobeTheatre Boston Bacon 1886.png
|Globe Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts, 1873-74.
}}
Notes
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References
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