George Ingham Barnett (1815–1898) was an architect from

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. He was called "The Dean of St. Louis Architecture" for his contributions to the buildings of St. Louis as well as for his influence on other architects in the United States.Sharoff, Robert. ''American City, St. Louis Architecture, Three Centuries of Classic Design''. The Images Publishing Group, 2010, p. xi

Early life in England

Barnett was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, England. He completed a classical education by the age of 16, then trained with Sir Thomas Hine at a builder in Nottingham, and then took on an apprenticeship with an architectural firm in London. Barnett left England for the United States in early 1839, remaining in New York City for six months before departing for St. Louis.Hyde, William & Conard, Howard Louis. ''Encyclopedia of the History of St. Louis''. The Southern History Company, 1899.

Work in St. Louis and Illinois

Barnett designed hundreds of buildings in St. Louis, many in

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

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 ...

, and Gothic design. Barnett did not deviate from classical designs, and his portfolio was largely responsible for establishing

Classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthet ...

as St. Louis' dominant architectural influence. His works included houses, churches, commercial, and civic structures. Among his best known structures are renovations to the Old Courthouse, the Missouri Governor's mansion, the structures of the

Missouri Botanical Garden The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million ...

, Tower Grove Park, and the Southern Hotel. The Samuel Moody Grubbs House in LItchfield Illinois. The only structure in Illinois he designed. It is a second Empire design. Barnett died at his home in St. Louis on December 29, 1898. File:Shaw house tg.jpg, Tower Grove House, 1849 File:The Old Courthouse, Saint Louis, Missouri.JPG, Old Courthouse, completed 1864 File:STL North Grand Water Tower.JPG, Grand Avenue Water Tower, 1871 File:Missouri-governor-mansion.jpg, Missouri Governor's Mansion, 1871 File:Tower Grove Park - Magnolia at Tower Grove Ave.jpg, Tower Grove Park, 1875 File:Henry Shaw Mausoleum.jpg, Henry Shaw Mausoleum, 1889

Influence on other architects

Barnett's son, Thomas P. Barnett, trained with the elder Barnett and went on to design such American landmarks as the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis and the

Adolphus Hotel Hotel Adolphus (often referred to as "The Adolphus") is an upscale hotel in the Main Street District of Downtown Dallas Dallas, Texas. A Dallas Landmark, it was for several years the tallest building in the state. Today, the hotel is part of Marr ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. His other son, George D. Barnett, and his son-in-law, John Ignatius Haynes, joined Tom Barnett to form the architectural firm of

Barnett, Haynes & Barnett Barnett, Haynes & Barnett was a prominent architectural firm based in St. Louis, Missouri. Their credits include many familiar St. Louis landmarks, especially a number related to the local Catholic church. Their best-known building is pr ...

.Leonard, John W. ''The Book of St. Louisans''. The St. Louis Republic, 1906, p. 38. His eldest son, Absalom J. Barnett, became a successful architect in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. Other notable architects who apprenticed under Barnett included Henry G. Isaacs, Alfred H. Piquenard, Charles F. May, H. William Kirchner, Isaac S. Taylor and George S. Mills.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, George I. 1815 births 1898 deaths Architects from St. Louis Architecture of St. Louis Missouri Botanical Garden people Burials at Bellefontaine Cemetery 19th-century American architects English emigrants to the United States Architects from Nottingham