John Butler Snook (1815–1901) was an American architect who practiced 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 ...

and was responsible for the design of a number of notable cast-iron buildings, most of which are now in and around the

SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

neighborhood of

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 ...

, as well as the original

Grand Central Depot Grand Central Terminal is a major commuter rail terminal in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, serving the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Lines. It is the most recent of three functionally similar buildings on the same s ...

, which preceded the current Grand Central Terminal.

Life and career

Born in England, Snook emigrated to the United States with his family as a child. He was trained as a carpenter in his father's carpentry business, and worked as a bookkeeper and draftsman there as well."NYCLPC NoHo Historic District Designation Report"
(June 29, 1999), p.219 He was largely self-taught as an architect. His first work in the field was in partnership with William Beer from 1837–40,"NYCLPC SoHo - Cast-Iron Historic District Extension Designation Report"
(May 11, 2010), p.180 then in 1842 he joined the firm of Joseph Trench. Within five years he was the junior partner in the firm, which became Trench and Snook, in which capacity he was the designer of the A. T. Stewart department store (1846) at 280

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

between Duane and

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

Streets, the first department store in America. The store was the first Anglo-Italianate style building in New York, and a significant factor in introducing that style to the United States. Its "palazzo mode – borrowed from

Charles Barry Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was a British architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also respons ...

's London clubs" set a style for New York commercial hotels that lasted until mid-century. In Snook's partnership with Trench he was also the architect of the brownstone-sheathed Metropolitan Hotel (1851–52) – erected in the same "palazzo" style – on Broadway at

Prince Street The Prince Street station is a local station on the BMT Broadway Line of the New York City Subway. Located in SoHo, Manhattan, it is served by the R train at all times except late nights, the W train on weekdays, the N train during late nig ...

; the Boreel Building (1849–50), a full block building bounded by Broadway, Cedar, Thames, and Temple Streets, the site of the former City Hotel, which Trench and Snook's palace hotels had rendered out-of-date; and the marble-clad St. Nicholas Hotel (1854) on Broadway between Broome and

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...

Streets;New-York Historical Societ
"Guide to the John B. Snook architectural record collection"
/ref> although the design of the last has also been attributed to

Griffith Thomas Griffith Thomas (1820—1879) was an American architect. He partnered with his father, Thomas Thomas, at the architecture firm of T. Thomas and Son."NYCLPC SoHo - Cast-Iron Historic District Extension Designation Report"
, (August 14, 1973). pp.40, 182-183

Solo practitioner

After Trench moved west to San Francisco in 1857, Snook continued to work in New York City on his own, and his practice became one of the largest in the city. Most of his buildings were in New York City, but he also designed and constructed buildings in

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 ...

– then a separate city – in

Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

, and in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Stephen Decatur Hatch Stephen Decatur Hatch (1839–1894) was a prominent late-19th century architect who was responsible for a number of historically or architecturally significant buildings in Manhattan, New York City and elsewhere. He primarily designed commer ...

, who later became a notable architect on his own, worked as a draftsman in Snook's office from 1860 to 1864. Cast-iron for Snook's commercial building facades was provided by

Cornell Iron Works Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach ...

and by Daniel D. Badger's Architectural Iron Works. Snook's 620 Broadway (1858) – called the "Little Cary Building" for its resemblance to the Cary Building by

Gamaliel King Gamaliel King ( Shelter Island, New York, 1 December 1795 — 6 December 1875) was an American architect who practiced in New York City and the adjacent city of Brooklyn, where he was a major figure in Brooklyn civic and ecclesiastical architectu ...

and John Kellum (1856) – was fronted with cast iron from Badger's Architectural Iron Works. Most of Snook's work was in commercial buildings, warehouses and tenements; for example the tenement building at 64 Oliver Street (1889), near the Manhattan Bridge, was built as a speculation for Roderick Green, completed in five months' time for about $6000. Snook also designed churches, hotels, institutions – the

Odd Fellows Hall Odd Fellows Hall, Independent Order of Odd Fellows Building, IOOF Building, Odd Fellows Lodge and variations are buildings for a chapter of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows fraternal organization. These terms may, more specifically, refer to: ...

(1847–48), Grand Street, survives (with some additions) and is a New York City Landmark – and hospitals. His other designs include residences such as the villa in Sleepy Hollow, New York, commissioned by Anson G. Phelps (1851), and those of the Vanderbilt and

Lorillard Lorillard Tobacco Company was an American tobacco company that marketed cigarettes under the brand names Newport, Maverick, Old Gold, Kent, True, Satin, and Max. The company had two operating segments: cigarettes and electronic cigarettes. The ...

families. In 1869,

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

employed Snook to design the first

, which served as the main passenger terminal for the New York and Harlem Railroad and the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

from 1871 to 1900.

Personal life and death

In 1836 Snook married Maria A. Weekes, with whom he had nine surviving children. Three sons, James Henry, Samuel Booth, and Thomas Edward, joined his practice in 1887, and the firm's name was changed to John B. Snook & Sons on its 50th anniversary. One of his sons-in-law, John W. Boylston, also worked in the firm. Snook died at his home in Brooklyn in 1901. His papers, including an archive of architectural drawings, are conserved in the

New-York Historical Society The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum ...

. After his death, the firm's name was changed to John B. Snook Sons. Snook is interred at

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several blo ...

, New York.

References

Notes

External links

* *
The John B. Snook Architectural Record Collection at the New York Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snook, John Butler 19th-century American architects Cast-iron architecture 1815 births 1901 deaths British emigrants to the United States

Life and career

Solo practitioner

Personal life and death

See also

References

External links