Napoleon Eugene Charles Henry LeBrun (January 2, 1821 – July 9, 1901) 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 ...

. He began his career in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

designing churches and theatres including St. Augustine's Church, the

Cathedral-Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, head church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is located at 18th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, on the east side of Logan Square in Philadelphia. It was built between ...

and the

Philadelphia Academy of Music The Academy of Music, also known as American Academy of Music, is a concert hall and opera house located at 240 S. Broad Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its location is between Locust and Manning Streets in the Avenue of the Arts area of ...

. He moved to

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 ...

, established the firm Napoleon LeBrun & Sons and designed multiple additional churches. He became the official architect of the Fire Department of New York and designed 42 firehouses between 1879 and 1895. He also designed early skyscrapers in New York City such as the

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower (colloquially known as the Met Life Tower and also as the South Building) is a skyscraper occupying a full block in the Flatiron District of Manhattan in New York City. The building is composed of ...

and the

Home Life Building The Home Life Building, also known as 253 Broadway, is an office building in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is in Manhattan's Tribeca and Civic Center neighborhoods at the northwest corner of Broadway and Murray Street, adjacent to City H ...

Biography

In Philadelphia

LeBrun was born on January 2, 1821 in Philadelphia to Charles and Adelaide (Madelaine) LeBrun. Both parents were well-educated Catholics born in France. His father supported the family by working as an author, teacher and translator. LeBrun's early architectural training began at the age of 15 when he worked in the offices of

Thomas Ustick Walter Thomas Ustick Walter (September 4, 1804 – October 30, 1887) was an American architect of German descent, the dean of American architecture between the 1820 death of Benjamin Latrobe and the emergence of H.H. Richardson in the 1870s. He was ...

. In 1847, LeBrun designed the St. Augustine Church in Philadelphia. After six years with Walter, LeBrun left to set up his own office in 1841, eventually receiving as his major commissions the

(1846–1864) and the Academy of Music (1857). As a young man in his twenties, LeBrun found opportunity in the booming industrial development of the

Schuylkill Valley The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It f ...

of Pennsylvania in the 1840s. His other early work includes the original version of Trinity Episcopal Church, Pottsville (1847), still standing though much altered by later revisions. His design for the church led to the commission for the Schuylkill County Prison (1851) when the county seat moved from Orwigsburg to Pottsville. He also designed the first Columbia County Courthouse in Bloomsburg and the 1854 Montgomery County Courthouse in

Norristown Norristown may mean: * Norristown, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Norristown, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Norristown, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Norristown, Pennsylvania Norristown is a municipality with home ...

. Although both were later extensively redesigned and expanded, the notable marble facade of the Montgomery County Courthouse remains his outward and identifying creation. In Philadelphia, LeBrun was known for his many churches, including not only St. Augustine's and the Cathedral-Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, but also St. Patrick's Catholic Church (1841) on 20th Street and the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany (1848) on 17th Street, now St. John Chrysostom Albanian Orthodox Church.

In New York City

In 1864, LeBrun relocated his office and family to

, establishing his reputation there with the Masonic Temple (1870) on West 23rd Street in Manhattan, designed in the

Second Empire style Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which uses elements of many different historical styles, and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as i ...

; in 1911 the Temple was torn down to be replaced with the current Masonic Building designed by Harry P. Knowles. In 1870, LeBrun's son, Pierre, joined the firm, which became "Napoleon LeBrun & Son" in 1880, and in 1892 "Napoleon LeBrun & Sons" after his younger son Michel also joined. As in Philadelphia, LeBrun and his firm, often with Pierre as the lead architect, designed numerous churches in New York City, including the Roman Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist (1872) on West 31st Street and the Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin (1894–1895) on West 46th Street in the

Theater District A theater district (also spelled theatre district) is a common name for a neighborhood containing several of a city's theatres. Places *Theater District, Manhattan, New York City *Boston Theater District *Buffalo Theater District *Cleveland Theater ...

neighborhood. St Mary's was the first church in the world to be designed with a concealed steel skeleton, for this reason it was known in its early days as the "Chicago Church", after the Chicago school of architecture, which was largely responsible for the use of steel skeletons in skyscraper construction. Other ecclesiastical commissions included the Seventh Presbyterian Church (1842, demolished), the Scots (or Second) Presbyterian Church (1843, no longer extant), the Church of St. Peter the Apostle (German Catholic) on 5th Street (1843, no longer extant), the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Holy Nativity (1844, demolished 2013), the Lombard-style Church of the Epiphany (1869–1870, burned down), and St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church on East 12th Street, for which LeBrun designed a

French Gothic French Gothic architecture is an architectural style which emerged in France in 1140, and was dominant until the mid-16th century. The most notable examples are the great Gothic cathedrals of France, including Notre-Dame Cathedral, Reims Cathedra ...

sanctuary in 1871 which sat behind the original 1847 facade; in 2006 everything but that facade was demolished - it now stands freely in front of a college dormitory built on the site of the sanctuary. His office is also responsible for the current St. Michael's Church (34th Street, Manhattan) church, rectory, convent, and school (1904–1907), which incorporate elements of an earlier church by Lawrence J. O'Connor which was demolished for the construction of the

North River Tunnels The North River Tunnels are a pair of rail tunnels that carry Amtrak and New Jersey Transit passenger lines under the Hudson River between Weehawken, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Built between 1904 ...

and

Pennsylvania Station Pennsylvania Station (often abbreviated Penn Station) is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) to several of its grand passenger terminals. Several are still in active use by Amtrak and other transportation services; others have been ...

. In 1879, LeBrun served as the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

representative on the Board of Examiners of the Building Bureau of the Fire Department. He became the official architect of the

Fire Department of New York The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, ...

and between 1879 and 1895, his firm designed 42 buildings, including fire houses, a fire pier and a warehouse. He also designed some of the earliest

skyscrapers 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 ...

, including the

and the

Death

LeBrun died in 1901 in New York City, and was buried in

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1836, it was the second major rural cemetery in the United States after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery is ...

in Philadelphia.

Gallery

File:2013 Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul from across the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.jpg ,

(1846–1864) in Philadelphia File:2013 Academy of Music from north.jpg , The Academy of Music in Philadelphia (1857) File:Masonic Temple, N.Y, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views crop.jpg , The now-demolished Masonic Temple in Manhattan (1875) which helped established LeBrun's reputation in New York City File:St. John the Baptist Church steeple.jpg , The steeple of the Church of St. John the Baptist (1872) in

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 ...

File:DCTV-DN-firehouse-800x600.jpg,

Firehouse, Engine Company 31 Firehouse, Engine Company 31 is a historic fire station located at 87 Lafayette Street between Walker and White Streets in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1895 and designed by architects Napoleon LeBrun ...

References

Citations Sources * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lebrun, Napoleon 1821 births 1901 deaths 19th-century American architects 19th-century American businesspeople American company founders American people of French descent Defunct architecture firms based in New York City American ecclesiastical architects Architecture firms based in Pennsylvania Architects from Philadelphia Architects of Roman Catholic churches Architects of cathedrals Artists from Philadelphia Architects from New York City Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Chicago school architects