Clinton Smith (May 6, 1846, Middlebury, Vermont - August 2, 1905) was an American architect. He designed many buildings in Middlebury and around Vermont.

Early life

Clinton Smith was born on the homestead farm of his family in the east part of

Middlebury, Vermont Middlebury is the shire town (county seat) of Addison County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 9,152. Middlebury is home to Middlebury College and the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History. History One of ...

, on May 6, 1846. He was the oldest son of George Smith and Julia Willmarth. He was descended from those who have been identified with the history of Vermont from the earliest times. His maternal ancestors made a record in the war of the Revolution and the war of 1812. His paternal grandfather came to Middlebury before the true site of the town was determined. His father George Smith will be remembered in Addison County, Vermont, as an educator and contracting builder.

Career

Clinton Smith was the architect and builder of many of the best buildings in

, such as the court house, town hall, Methodist church, Baptist church, Beckwith block, Dyer block and many residences. His first work of consequence was the erection of Shard Villa, the stone residence in Salisbury, Vermont, of Columbus Smith. Vermont State House in Montpelier

He was widely known throughout the state also in adjacent parts of New Hampshire and New York, as a builder of churches and public buildings, among them the library annex to the Capitol building in

Montpelier, Vermont Montpelier () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Washington County. The site of Vermont's state government, it is the least populous state capital in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population w ...

, and the Asylum for the Insane at Waterbury, Vermont. In 1891 he accepted a position in the War Department at Washington, D.C. as Chief of Construction and Repair under Hon. Redfield Proctor, then secretary of War in Harrison's administration, and with his family removed to the Capitol city. He served the government acceptably exactly fourteen years when he resigned his position partly on account of impaired health and partly from a wish to accept another position under Senator Redfield Proctor which offered him outside exercise and air of which so much desk work deprived him. His desk work, however, had been constantly alleviated by long trips to inspect buildings under construction at army posts and reservations in all parts of the United States, thus he became known to a wide circle of friends in every walk of life. His resignation took effect June 1, 1905 and he became one of the incorporators of "The Talpin Construction Co.", in Washington and began the erection of its first building a large marble apartment house

Champlain Apartment Building The Champlain Apartment Building, also known as the Orme Building, is an historic structure located at 1424 K St., Northwest, Washington, D.C. in the Downtown neighborhood. History The building was designed by architect Clinton Smith and construct ...

on K street in that city. This furnished him congenial and absorbing occupation until he was stricken by an alarming illness on July 28, 1905. Two trained nurses and his family attended his bedside. All that medical skill could accomplish was employed in vain. His disease was pronounced typhoid fever of a virulent type. He suffered hemorrhage after hemorrhage yet made a gallant fight for life till weakness prostrated every faculty and he breathed his last on the evening of August 2, 1905. This was his third attack of that dread disease. The first one was at the age of 14 years, the next 10 years later. Each attack was exceptionally severe and heightened by complications. His funeral was attended at his suburban residence "Smitholm" on August 4, 1905.

Personal life

Clinton Smith married Alice Matilda "Olive" White. They had 6 children: Charles Lynn Smith (1869-1875), Clifton Roberts Smith (1878-1923), Delmar White Smith (1874-1949, contracting builder in Manila), Harold Smith (1882-1967), Leon Neil Smith (1889-1936), Helena Mercy Smith (b. 1872) (wife of Prof. Charles J. Bullock of Harvard). He was buried at Foote Street Cemetery, Middlebury.

Works

* Baptist Meeting House (1806 / 1862), Bingham St, West Cornwall, VT * Winooski Commercial Block (1867), Winooski, VT * Shard Villa (1872-1874), 1177 Shard Villa Road, West Salisbury, VT (

NRHP The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

: Shard Villa, October 30, 1989, #89001789) * United Methodist Church (1874), 1 Franklin St., Brandon, VT * Residence (1875 / demolished 1918), Seminary St., Middlebury, VT * Residence (1803 / c. 1875), 71 S. Pleasant St, Middlebury, VT * Carriage Barn (c. 1875 / demolished 1970s), behind 71 S. Pleasant St, Middlebury, VT * The Four Sisters (1875–82), Seminary St, Middlebury, VT * Foote Residence (1800 / 1877), Foote Rd, Middlebury, VT * J. L. Barker Residence (1877), 8 Carver St, Brandon, VT * Justin Batcheller Residence (1877), 55 N. Main St, Wallingford, VT * Carriage Barn (1878), 55 N. Main St, Wallingford, VT * School House (1878), 2320 Munger Street, Middlebury, VT * Breeding Barn & Stable (1878), Weybridge, VT * Eddy Residence (1810 / 1878), 73 Weybridge St, Middlebury, VT * Clinton Smith Residence (1879), 45 Seminary St., Middlebury, VT * Chandler Hotel (1879 / burned 1942), Silver Lake, Leicester, VT * Bacheller Block (1879), 5 N. Main St, Wallingford, VT * Deacon Crane Residence (1880), 13 Washington St., Middlebury, VT * Quarry Hill School (c. 1880), Quarry Rd at Case St, Middlebury, VT * Residence (1822 / c. 1880), 135 S. Pleasant St, Middlebury, VT * Smith & Allen Mill (1881/1903), 1 Mill St, Middlebury, VT * Methodist Church (1852 / 1881), West Addison, VT * Forbes Residence (c. 1810 / 1881), 31 Court St. Middlebury, VT * Wainwright House (1825 / 1881), N. Pleasant St, Middlebury, VT * Farnsworth Residence (1882), 68 Washington St. Ext., Middlebury, VT * Grace Baptist Church (1882), 52 Merchants Row, Middlebury, VT * Bread Loaf Inn (1882), Ripton, VT * Barn (1882) at the Bread Loaf Inn, Ripton, VT * Henshaw Residence (1801 / 1882), 190 S. Pleasant St, Middlebury, VT * Addison Co. Court House (1883), 5 Court St, Middlebury, VT * Town Hall (1883), Middlebury, VT (

: Middlebury Center Historic District, May 9, 1985, #85001019) * Hooker Residence (1883), 20 Robbins Rd, Cornwall, VT * James Residence (1810 / 1830s / 1883), 869 James Rd, Weybridge, VT * Beckwith Commercial Block (1883), 30 Main St, Middlebury, VT * Clinton Smith Residence (1884), 88 S. Pleasant St, Middlebury, VT * Commercial Block (1884), 73 Main St, Middlebury, VT * Holley Hall (1884), Bristol, VT (

: Bristol Downtown Historic District, February 3, 1983, #83003203) * Barn (1884) at Dean Stock Farm, 1287 N. Bingham St, Cornwall, VT * Prentice Residence (1885), 999 Happy Valley Road, Middlebury, VT * Otis Abbey Residence (1885), 19 South St, Middlebury, VT * Smith Carriage Barn (1885), 88 S. Pleasant St, Middlebury, VT * Stewart Carriage Barn (1885), 25 Stewart Ln, Middlebury, VT * Universalist Church (1885), School St, Shoreham, VT * Methodist Church (1885), West Rutland, VT * Union Block (1885), Main St, Randolph, VT * DuBois & Gay Block (1885 / demolished 1991), Main St, Randolph, VT * Store for Charles Thurston (1885), West Randolph, VT * Store for W. E. Lamson (1885), West Randolph, VT * State Library & Supreme Court (1886), State Street, Montpelier, VT * Town Hall (18xx / 1886), Westminster Rd. & River Rd, Walpole, NH * Vermont Academy (1887), 20 Pleasant St, Saxtons River, VT (

: Vermont Academy Campus Historic District, July 14, 2015, #15000423) * Black River Academy (1887), 14 High St, Ludlow, VT (

Black River Academy The Black River Academy is a historic school building on High Street in the village of Ludlow, Vermont. Chartered in 1835, the school served as the town high school until 1938. The present building, a Richardsonian Romanesque structure built in ...

, November 15, 1972, #72000108) * Methodist Parsonage (1887), 22 Seminary St, Middlebury, VT * Thad Chapman Estate (1870 / 1887), Route 30, Middlebury, VT (

The Heights (Middlebury, Vermont) The Heights, also known as the Thaddeus Chapman House is a historic country estate on Vermont Route 30 (South Street) in Middlebury, Vermont. Developed in the 1870s and 1880s, the property is one of the finest estates of the period in the stat ...

, December 29, 1988, #88003082) * Trinity Parish House (1887), 227 Sherman St, Watertown, NY (

: Trinity Episcopal Church and Parish House (Watertown, New York), June 30, 2000, #00000747) * Post Office (1888 / demolished 1970s), State Street, Montpelier, VT * Mt. Moriah Presbyterian Church (1888), 19 Church St, Port Henry, NY * School (1888), 30 Pine St, Rutland, VT * Congregational Church (1834 / 1888), 30 S Water St, Vergennes, VT * Munson Barn (1888), 1774 US 7 South, Wallingford, VT * Baxter Memorial Library (1889), 96 Grove St, Rutland, VT * First Baptist Church (1870/1889), 190 Main St, Brattleboro, VT * Asylum for Paupers & Insane (1890), 103 S Main St, Waterbury, VT * Congregational Church (1890 / 1929), Town Hill Rd, New Haven, VT (

: Plymouth Congregational Church (New Haven, Connecticut), July 28, 1983, #83001250) * Methodist Church (1891), 40 Crown Point Rd, Bridport, VT * Spaulding Graded School (1891), 60 Washington St, Barre, VT * Methodist Church (1892–93), 47 N. Pleasant St, Middlebury, VT * Congregational Church (1892), 48 Pleasant St, Ludlow, VT (

: Congregational Church of Ludlow, January 28, 2004, #03001541) * Commercial Block (1892), 201 North Main St, Barre, VT * Battell Commercial Block (1892–98), Merchants Row & Main Street, Middlebury, VT * Cobb Commercial Block (1892), 48-50 Main St, Middlebury, VT * Brook Farm (1894), Twenty Mile Stream Rd. northwest of Cavendish, Cavendish, VT (

: Brook Farm (Cavendish, Vermont), July 22, 1993, #93000676) * Residence (c. 1896), 48 South Street, Middlebury, VT * Champlain Apartment Building (1905), 1424 K Street NW, Washington, DC (

, September 7, 1994, #94001042)

Gallery

File:TheHeights.jpg, The Heights, Thad Chapman Estate (1870 / 1887), Route 30, Middlebury, VT File:TownHallMiddleburyCT.jpg, Town Hall (1883), Middlebury, VT File:Bristol vermont main street.jpg, Holley Hall (1884), Bristol, VT File:Union Block, Randolph, VT.jpg, Union Block (1885), Main St, Randolph, VT File:Town House, Walpole, NH.jpg, Town Hall (18xx / 1886), Westminster Rd. & River Rd, Walpole, NH File:Black River Academy.JPG, Black River Academy (1887), 14 High St, Ludlow, VT File:Vermont Academy, Saxtons River, Vermont.jpg, Vermont Academy (1887), 20 Pleasant St, Saxtons River, VT File:Trinity Episcopal Church 052613 007.JPG, Trinity Parish House (1887), 227 Sherman St, Watertown, NY File:Plymouth Congregational Church in New Haven, October 20, 2008.jpg, Congregational Church (1890 / 1929), Town Hill Rd, New Haven, VT File:WcThePavilion.JPG, Spaulding Graded School (1891), 60 Washington St, Barre, VT File:Congregational Church of Ludlow.JPG, Congregational Church (1892), 48 Pleasant St, Ludlow, VT File:Main Street, Middlebury, VT.jpg, Battell Commercial Block (1892–98), Merchants Row & Main Street, Middlebury, VT File:Brook Farm, Front.JPG, Brook Farm (1894), Twenty Mile Stream Rd. northwest of Cavendish, Cavendish, VT File:Champlain Apartment Building.jpg, Champlain Apartment Building (1905), 1424 K Street NW, Washington, DC

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Clinton 1846 births 1905 deaths American architects People from Middlebury, Vermont