John Gideon Haskell (February 5, 1832 – November 25, 1907) was an architect who designed portions of the

Kansas State Capitol The Kansas State Capitol, known also as the Kansas Statehouse, is the building housing the executive and legislative branches of government for the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in the city of Topeka, which has served as the capital of Kansas sin ...

and other public buildings in the state. Haskell was born in

Milton, Vermont Milton is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,723. According to local legend, the town was named for the English poet John Milton, but the name most likely originated from William Fi ...

. His father moved to

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

in 1854 with the

New England Emigrant Aid Company The New England Emigrant Aid Company (originally the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company) was a transportation company founded in Boston, Massachusetts by activist Eli Thayer in the wake of the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed the population of ...

while Haskell was attending

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

and had an architect job in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. After his father died in 1857, he moved to Kansas where he lived for the rest of his life.John G. Haskell Biography - The Castle Tea Room
/ref> He joined the Union army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. After the war he was named official state architect and as such finished the work on the

. He was recruited by county commissioners of

Greenwood County Greenwood County is the name of two counties in the United States: * Greenwood County, Kansas Greenwood County (county code GW) is a county located in the southeast portion of the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county populat ...

and Chase County in east central Kansas to design their courthouses, which he did in 1871, and he designed other courthouses as well.

Works

(wings) *

Topeka State Hospital The Topeka State Hospital (formerly the Topeka Insane Asylum) was a publicly funded institution for the care and treatment of the mentally ill in Topeka, Kansas, in operation from 1872 to 1997. Located at 2700 W 6th Street, the hospital opened in 18 ...

, Topeka *

Osawatomie State Hospital Osawatomie State Hospital is a psychiatric hospital established in 1863 and opened in 1866 in Osawatomie, Kansas Osawatomie is a city in Miami County, Kansas, United States, southwest of Kansas City. As of the 2020 census, the population of ...

Osawatomie, Kansas Osawatomie is a city in Miami County, Kansas, United States, southwest of Kansas City. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,255. It derives its name as a portmanteau of two nearby streams, the Marais des Cygnes River (form ...

*Snow Hall, University of Kansas, Lawrence (torn down and rebuilt) *

Bailey Hall (University of Kansas) Bailey Hall (formerly known as the Chemistry Building), at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, was built in 1905. The architect was John G. Haskell who was among the architects of the Kansas State Capitol. It was listed on the National R ...

, Lawrence (NRHP) * Chase County Courthouse (1871),

Cottonwood Falls, Kansas Cottonwood Falls is the largest city and county seat of Chase County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 851. It is located south of Strong City along the south side of the Cottonwood River. Histor ...

(NRHP) * English Lutheran Church, Lawrence (NRHP) * Ludington House, Lawrence (NRHP) *

Plymouth Congregational Church (Lawrence, Kansas) Plymouth Congregational Church of Lawrence, Kansas is an affiliate of the United Church of Christ that was established in 1854, months after the Territory of Kansas was opened to settlement. The present-day church building, built in 1870, is liste ...

, Lawrence (NRHP) *Sunnyside School,

Jefferson County, Kansas Jefferson County (county code JF) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. At the 2020 census, the county population was 18,368. Its county seat is Oskaloosa, and its most populous city is Valley Falls. History Early history For ma ...

(NRHP) *Thacher Building, Topeka (NRHP) *Roberts House (now the "Castle Tea Room") on

Massachusetts Street Massachusetts Street (often referred to colloquially as either Mass Street or Mass) is the main street that runs through the central business district of downtown Lawrence, Kansas. It begins just south of the Kansas River at Sixth Street and cont ...

in Lawrence * Bernhard Warkentin Homestead *First United Methodist Church, Lawrence * Greenwood County Courthouse (1871) * Barton County Courthouse (1871) * McPherson County Courthouse (1894–95),

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

* Douglas County Courthouse (1903), Richardsonian Romanesque *University of Kansas Powerhouse (1887, now the Hall Center for the Humanities)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haskell, John 1832 births 1907 deaths Brown University alumni 19th-century American architects People from Milton, Vermont Architects from Vermont Architects from Kansas People from Lawrence, Kansas People of Kansas in the American Civil War