Francis Hatch Kimball (September 24, 1845 – December 20, 1919) 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 ...

practicing in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, best known for his work on

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

s in

lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

and terra-cotta ornamentation. He was an associate with the firm Kimball & Thompson. His work includes the

Empire Building An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

Manhattan Life Insurance Building The Manhattan Life Insurance Building was a tower on Broadway in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. History The original structure at 64–66 Broadway was completed in 1894 to the designs of the architects of Kimball & Th ...

, and Casino Theatre. All but one of Kimball's work was in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Life

Kimball was born in

Kennebunk, Maine Kennebunk is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 11,536 at the 2020 census (The population does not include Kennebunkport, a separate town). Kennebunk is home to several beaches, the Rachel Carson National Wildlife R ...

. He went on to study architecture in England. In 1879 he joined forces with Thomas Wisedell, with whom he designed the 1882 Casino Theatre on Broadway, and other projects. Wisedell died in 1884. Kimball practiced independently until 1892, when he formed Kimball & Thompson with G. Kramer Thompson. That partnership ended in 1898. Kimball's Victorian Gothic

Catholic Apostolic Church The Catholic Apostolic Church (CAC), also known as the Irvingian Church, is a Christian denomination and Protestant sect which originated in Scotland around 1831 and later spread to Germany and the United States.Montgomery Schuyler Montgomery Schuyler AIA, (August 19, 1843, Ithaca, New York – July 16, 1914, New Rochelle, New York) was a highly influential critic, journalist and editorial writer in New York City who wrote about and influenced art, literature, music ...

as there being "no more scholarly Gothic work in New York." Kimball was also a pioneer in the use of ornamental

terra-cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta i ...

in the United States, evident on the

Corbin Building The Corbin Building (also known as 13 John Street and 192 Broadway) is a historic office building at the northeast corner of John Street and Broadway in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. It was built in 1888–1889 as a ...

; on a striking row of townhouses that he designed at 133–143 West 122nd Street in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

; and on the

Montauk Club The Montauk Club is a social club located in a Francis Kimball-designed building in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The Club provides dining and drinking services and offers an extensive schedule of events including a Book Club, a Beer Club, Murder Mystery ...

Park Slope Park Slope is a neighborhood in northwestern Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park and Prospect Park West to the east, Fourth Avenue to the west, Flatbush Aven ...

, Brooklyn. Contemporaries described Kimball as the "father of the skyscraper". A 1917 article in ''The New York Times'' noted his bankruptcy. Kimball died in 1919 in New York City and buried at Linwood Cemetery in Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts.

Works before 1892

26 Broadway 26 Broadway, also known as the Standard Oil Building or Socony–Vacuum Building, is an office building adjacent to Bowling Green in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The 31-story, structure was designed in the Renais ...

(1885),

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York; later extensively renovated * Emmanuel Baptist Church (1887), NW corner of Lafayette Ave and St. James Place,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York *

(1888), Manhattan, New York *

Reading Company The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly called ...

freight depot (1888), 260 Willow Street, Trenton, New Jersey * 133–143 West 122nd Street townhouses in

, Manhattan, New York * The Garrick Theater (1890; razed 1932), 67 West 35th Street, Manhattan, New York * The

(1891)

, Brooklyn, New York * The

Reading Terminal The Reading Terminal ( ) is a complex of buildings that includes the former Reading Company main station located in the Market East section of Center City in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It comprises the Reading Terminal Headhou ...

Headhouse (1891–93), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; housed the offices of the

Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly calle ...

. *

Fifth Avenue Theatre Fifth Avenue Theatre was a Broadway theatre in New York City in the United States located at 31 West 28th Street and Broadway (1185 Broadway). It was demolished in 1939. Built in 1868, it was managed by Augustin Daly in the mid-1870s. In 1877, ...

(1892; razed 1939), 31 West 28th Street Manhattan, New York * Victorian residence (1889–1890), 2 Mecklenburg Street at Sydney Street,

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...

; for Robert Thompson Jr (owner of shipping company

William Thompson and Company William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

)

Works as part of Kimball & Thompson (1892–1898)

From 1892 to 1898, he was part of Kimball & Thompson which built: *New York Architectural Terra-Cotta Works Building (1892), 42-16 Vernon Boulevard, Queens, New York * The

(1895), 71 Broadway, Manhattan, New York *

(1894; demolished 1930), 64–70 Broadway, Manhattan, New York *The former

Works after 1898

* 111 Fifth Avenue (1904), Manhattan, New York; a "21-sty limestone and brick office building, 41.3×264.5 and irregular," for $1,250,000.00.Office for Metropolitan History
, "Manhattan NB Database 1900–1986," (February 7, 2010) * 513–515 West 161st Street (1905), Manhattan, New York; a "3-sty brk and stone engine house", for the city of NY at a cost of $62,000. – now FDNY Hook & Ladder 34/Engine 34 * (with Harry E. Donnell) Brunswick Building (1906), Manhattan, New York; Beaux-Arts building located on the site of the former Brunswick Hotel at 225 Fifth Avenue, on Madison Square Park * Mills Buildings (1906), SE corner of William Street, Manhattan, New York; an "11-sty brick and stone bank and office building" for J. & W. Seligman & Co. at a cost of $500,000. * 111 Broadway (1906), SW corner of Broadway and Cedar Street, Manhattan, New York; a "21-sty brick and stone office building," for $3,000,000.00. *

City Investing Building The City Investing Building, also known as the Broadway–Cortlandt Building and the Benenson Building, was an office building and early skyscraper in Manhattan, New York. Serving as the headquarters of the City Investing Company, it was on C ...

,(1906–1908; razed 1968) 56 Cortlandt Street, Manhattan, New York; 26-story skyscraper built near the

Singer Tower The Singer Building (also known as the Singer Tower) was an office building and early skyscraper in Manhattan, New York City. The headquarters of the Singer Manufacturing Company, it was at the northwestern corner of Liberty Street and Broadw ...

* 37 Wall Street (1906–1907), Manhattan, New York; commissioned for the Trust Company of America. Now residential building with Tiffany & Co as main floor tenant * 142 Liberty Street (1909), Manhattan, New York; a "3-sty and basement brick and reinforced concrete store and loft building" for A. L. White and F. M. Hilton of 62 Cedar St, at a cost of $15,000. *

224 West 57th Street 224 West 57th Street, also known as the Argonaut Building and formerly as the Demarest and Peerless Company Building, is a commercial building on the southeast corner of Broadway and 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, just sout ...

(1909), Broadway and 57th St, Manhattan, New York; two 9-story automobile showrooms. * 66 57th St and Broadway (1909), Manhattan, New York; a "9-sty and basement concrete and brick garage" for $175,000. * Broadway and the SE corner of

Astor Place Astor Place is a one-block street in NoHo/ East Village, in the lower part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs from Broadway in the west (just below East 8th Street) to Lafayette Street. The street encompasses two plazas at th ...

(1910), Manhattan, New York; a "2-sty brick and stone loft, slag roof, copper skylights, wire glass, copper cornices, terra cotta blocks, steam heat, doors fireproofed, metal sash and frames, fireproof trim, limestone" for $300,000. * The

Adams Express Building The Adams Express Building is an office building at 61 Broadway in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. The building's primary frontage is on 57-61 Broadway, with additional frontage along 33–41 Trinity Place. Architect Francis ...

s (1912), Manhattan, New York; Nos. 57–61 Broadway and Nos. 33–41 Trinity Place, a 32-story office building for $2 million.

References

External links

Casino Theatre, New York, N.Y. (graphic)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kimball, Francis Hatch 1845 births 1919 deaths Architects from New York City People from Kennebunk, Maine American ecclesiastical architects Gothic Revival architects 19th-century American architects 20th-century American architects