Charles L. Ulricson (1816, Stockholm, Sweden – 1887, Peoria, Illinois) was a Swedish-born American architect, who practiced in Peoria, Illinois. He is best known for designing
Old Main
Old Main is a term often applied to the original building present on college or university campuses in the United States. The building serves today as home to administrative offices, such as the president or provost, but in its early inception may ...
(1856–57) – the principal building at Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois – now a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
.
Biography
The son of Carl Ulricson, architect to the Swedish crown, he graduated from the
Royal Institute of Architects in Stockholm.
[. ] Following his father's death, he emigrated to the United States in 1835, initially settling in New York City. He was employed by the architect
Alexander Jackson Davis
Alexander Jackson Davis, or A. J. Davis (July 24, 1803 – January 14, 1892), was an American architect, known particularly for his association with the Gothic Revival style.
Education
Davis was born in New York City and studied at t ...
for about four years, where he worked on University Hall (1833–37, demolished 1890) for
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
. Searching for a place to set up his own practice, he traveled through the American South before settling in Peoria, Illinois, about 1844.
Ulricson established a successful practice in Peoria, designing and often acting as contractor for commercial buildings and residences. He designed and built St. Paul's Episcopal Church (1850, demolished 1880s), of which he was a member and later vestryman; and a private school, Peoria Academy (1854). He designed and built a number of
Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
and
Second Empire Second Empire may refer to:
* Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783
* Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396)
* Second French Empire (1852–1870)
** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...
mansions on Peoria's
West Bluff, overlooking the city and the
Illinois River
The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the D ...
.
Old Main
![Old Main Knox College](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Old_Main_Knox_College.jpg)
His most prominent early commission was for buildings at Knox College. The Female Seminary (1856–57), the first education building and dormitory for women, made the college
co-educational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
. Old Main, the centerpiece of the campus, contained men's classrooms and the college chapel. His
Victorian Gothic
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
design for Old Main was inspired by
Hampton Court Palace
Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...
,
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
's residence outside London.
Notably, a year after its opening, Old Main was the site of the October 7, 1858 debate between incumbent Senator
Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...
and challenger Congressman
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
. A crowd estimated at 15,000 people stood on the lawn for the 3-hour event, while the contenders spoke from a platform erected before the building. The primary subject of the
Lincoln–Douglas debates was the expansion of slavery in the United States – Douglas argued in support and Lincoln opposed. Lincoln lost the 1858 Senatorial election, but two years later won the 1860 Presidential election. Old Main is the only surviving building from the debates.
In 2010, Knox College professor R. Lance Factor published a book about Ulricson and Old Main, arguing that the building is filled with iconography and associations with
Freemasonry
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
. Knox College was a
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
institution, and its president during the period when Old Main was built, Reverend
Jonathan Blanchard, was vehemently anti-Masonic. Dr. Factor argues that Ulricson kept his Masonic membership a secret.
Personal
Ulricson married Maria Cowham in 1861. Four of their six children reached adulthood: Walter H. (b. 1867), Oscar E. (b. 1870), E. Frank (b. 1873), and Fanny M. (b. 1878). The family lived at 309 W. Armstrong Street, Peoria.
Works
![Pettingill-Morron House](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Pettingill-Morron_House.JPG)
* Buildings at
Jubilee College (1845–47),
Jubilee Township, Illinois.
* John Reynolds house (1847), 305 N. Jefferson Street, Peoria, Illinois.
* St. Paul's Episcopal Church (1850, demolished 1880s), Monroe & Main Streets, Peoria, Illinois.
* Peoria Academy (1854), Peoria, Illinois.
* Old Main (1856–57), Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois. NRHP-listed.
* Female Seminary (women's education building and dormitory) (1856–57), Knox College, Tompkins Street, Galesburg, Illinois. Later renamed "Whiting Hall," it was greatly expanded in the 1880s and 1890s. Now no longer part of the college, it is used as housing for the elderly.
* Peoria Marine & Fire Insurance Company (1859), Main Street, Peoria, Illinois.
* Mathew Griswold house (1859), West Bluff, 109 S. Madison Street, Peoria, Illinois.
* John L. Griswold house (1859), West Bluff, Moss Street, Peoria, Illinois.
* Reuben B. Hamlin house (1859), West Bluff, Peoria, Illinois.
* Augustana Lutheran Church (1865–67), 628 Sixth Street,
Andover, Illinois
Andover is a village in Henry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 578 at the 2010 census, down from 594 in 2000.
History
Andover is the oldest community in Henry County. Andover was the first area to be settled as a town within ...
. Dr. Factor identifies Masonic iconography also in this building.
*
Pettengill-Morron House (1867), 1212 W. Moss Avenue, Peoria, Illinois. Part of West Bluff Historic District. NRHP-listed. Now operated as a
historic house museum
A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...
by the Peoria Historical Society.
* Peoria County Almshouse (1869–70), County Farm, Route 116. Designed to house 100 inmates.
* Bushnell High School (1876–77), Bushnell, Illinois, William Quaye, architect, Charles Ulrichson, contractor.
* Edward S. Easton house (1880), 1125 Main Street, Peoria, Illinois. Part of West Bluff Historic District. Now occupied by Converse Marketing.
"Converse Manor, built 1880:"
(pdf), from Converse Marketing.
* Stark County Courthouse Annex (1884), Toulon, Illinois
Toulon is a city in Stark County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,292 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Stark County. Toulon is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the northwestern terminu ...
.
* Hall of Records, Knoxville, Illinois
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,911 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Description
Knoxville is located just southeast of the City of Galesburg. Ther ...
.
References
*R. Lance Factor, ''Chapel in the Sky: Knox College's Old Main and Its Masonic Architect'' (North Illinois University Press, 2010).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulricson, Charles
Swedish emigrants to the United States
Historicist architects
1816 births
1887 deaths
People from Peoria, Illinois
Artists from Stockholm
Architects from Illinois
19th-century American architects