Elias Carter (1781-1864) was an American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

whose first church design, at Brimfield, Massachusetts, was completed in 1805. He was born in 1781 to Timothy and Sarah (Walker) Carter in Ward, a village of

Auburn, Massachusetts Auburn is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 16,889 at the 2020 census. History The Auburn area was first settled in 1714 as of today outer parts of Worcester, Sutton, Leicester and Oxford, Massachusett ...

. His father, a builder, died when he was three, and the family moved to Hardwick when his mother remarried, to a farmer there. He followed in his father's profession, working in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

for a time before returning to central Massachusetts. He was responsible for the construction of a number of churches in central Massachusetts, which an early biographer described as "typical white steepled churches of

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

". His most influential design appears to have been the church in

Templeton, Massachusetts Templeton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,149 at the 2020 census. The town comprises four main villages: Templeton Center, East Templeton, Baldwinville, and Otter River. Geography According to ...

, which inspired the design of at least two others. He also built houses throughout central Massachusetts, as well as a wing of the

Westborough State Hospital Westborough State Hospital, originally "Westborough Insane Hospital", was a historic hospital in Westborough, Massachusetts, which sat on more than . The core campus area was located between Lyman Street and Chauncy Lake, north of Massachusetts ...

, and played a role in the construction of the

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

state insane asylum. Many of his works are listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places 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 ...

. Works (attribution) include: * Gov. Levi Lincoln House (1834), 4 Avalon Pl., Worcester, MA, NRHP-listed * Salisbury House (1836–38), 61 Harvard St., Worcester, MA, NRHP-listed. Designed by Carter or by Isaiah Rogers (sources disagree) * Dowley-Taylor House (1842), 770 Main St., Worcester, MA, NRHP-listed * Small House (1846), 156 Rogers Ave., Macon, GA, NRHP-listed * Horatio Tower House (1848), 71 Pleasant St., Worcester, MA, NRHP-listed *

Acworth Congregational Church Acworth Congregational Church (The Church-on-the-Hill or Acworth Meetinghouse) is a historic church at the end of the town common in Acworth, New Hampshire. Built in 1821, its exterior is a well-preserved local example of Federal period archit ...

, north end of town common, Acworth, NH, NRHP-listed *Church of Christ Congregational, 235 State Street, Granby, MA *

Domingos House Domingos is the name of: People Surnamed * Afonso Domingos * André Domingos * Antonio Domingos * Bárbara Domingos * Camilo Domingos * Ederson Bruno Domingos * Garcia Domingos * Guilherme Afif Domingos * Jônatas Domingos * Laila Doming ...

, 1261 Jefferson Ter.,

Macon, GA Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of ...

, NRHP-listed * Leroy Napier House, 2215 Napier Ave., Macon, GA, NRHP-listed * Third Fitzwilliam Meetinghouse, Village Green, Fitzwilliam, NH, NRHP-listed *

, along Lyman St. north of Chauncy Lake and jct. of South St. and MA 9, Westborough, MA (Carter, Elias), NRHP-listed *One or more works in Barre Common District, bounded roughly by South, Exchange, Main, Pleasant, Broad, School and Grove Sts., Barre, MA, NRHP-listed *One or more works in Brimfield Center Historic District, Main St., Brookfield, Wales, Sturbridge and Warren Rds., Brimfield, MA, NRHP-listed *One or more works in

Macon Historic District (Macon, Georgia) The Macon Historic District is a historic district in Macon, Georgia that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and was expanded in 1995. The original listing covered and included 1,050 contributing resources; the inc ...

, NRHP-listed including maps pages 43-47, with (see photo captions pages 36-42 of text document) *One or more works in Mendon Center Historic District, roughly bounded by Main, Hastings, Maple, North, Washington & George Sts., Mendon, MA, NRHP-listed *One or more works in Rabbit Hill Historic District, roughly bounded by Highland, Main, Franklin, and Milford Sts., Medway, MA, NRHP-listed *One or more works in Templeton Common Historic District, Athol, Gardner, Hubbardston, Dudley, Wellington, and South Rds., Templeton, MA, NRHP-listed

References

19th-century American architects Architects from Massachusetts Architects from Worcester, Massachusetts 1781 births 1864 deaths People from Auburn, Massachusetts {{US-architect-stub