McKim, Mead, and White
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McKim, Mead & White was an American
architectural firm In the United States, an architectural firm or architecture firm is a business that employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture; while in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and other countri ...
that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the
American Renaissance The American Renaissance was a period of American architecture and the arts from 1876 to 1917, characterized by renewed national self-confidence and a feeling that the United States was the heir to Greek democracy, Roman law, and Renaissance hu ...
in
fin de siècle () is a French term meaning "end of century,” a phrase which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom "turn of the century" and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another. Without context ...
New York. The firm's founding partners
Charles Follen McKim Charles Follen McKim (August 24, 1847 – September 14, 1909) was an American Beaux-Arts architect of the late 19th century. Along with William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White, he provided the architectural expertise as a member of the partn ...
(1847–1909),
William Rutherford Mead William Rutherford Mead (August 20, 1846 – June 19, 1928) was an American architect who was the "Center of the Office" of McKim, Mead, and White, a noted Gilded Age architectural firm.Baker, Paul R. ''Stanny'' The firm's other founding pa ...
(1846–1928) and
Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in additio ...
(1853–1906) were giants in the architecture of their time, and remain important as innovators and leaders in the development of modern architecture worldwide. They formed a school of classically trained, technologically skilled designers who practiced well into the mid-twentieth century. According to
Robert A. M. Stern Robert Arthur Morton Stern, usually credited as Robert A. M. Stern (born May 23, 1939), is a New York City–based architect, educator, and author. He is the founding partner of the architecture firm, Robert A.M. Stern Architects, also known a ...
, only
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
was more important to the identity and character of modern American architecture. The firm's
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 ...
buildings include Manhattan's former
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 ...
, the
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...
, and the main campus of
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. Elsewhere in
New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
and
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
, the firm designed college, library, school and other buildings such as the
Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse'') of the Commonweal ...
, Walker Art Building at Bowdoin College, and the
Rhode Island State House The Rhode Island State House, the capitol of the state of Rhode Island, is located at 900 Smith Street just below the crest of Smith Hill, on the border of downtown in Providence. It is a neoclassical building designed by McKim, Mead & White wh ...
. In Washington, D.C., the firm renovated the West and East Wings of the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
, and designed Roosevelt Hall on
Fort Lesley J. McNair Fort Lesley J. McNair is a United States Army post located on the tip of Greenleaf Point, the peninsula that lies at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. To the peninsula's west is the Washington Cha ...
and the
National Museum of American History The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history. Among the items on display is t ...
. Across the United States, the firm designed buildings in Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin. Other examples are in Canada, Cuba and Italy. The scope and breadth of their achievement is astounding, considering that many of the technologies and strategies they employed were nascent or non-existent when they began working in the 1880s.


Early years

Charles McKim was the son of a prominent
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...
who grew up in West Orange, New Jersey. He attended Harvard College and went to Paris to attend the
École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...
, a leading training ground for Americans. William Rutherford Mead, a cousin of president
Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governor ...
, went to Amherst College and trained with Russell Sturgis in Boston. The two formed a partnership with William Bigelow in New York in 1877. White was born in New York City, the son of Shakespearean scholar Richard Grant White and Alexina Black Mease (1830–1921). His father was a dandy and Anglophile with no money, but a great many connections in New York's art world, including painter John LaFarge, Louis Comfort Tiffany and Frederick Law Olmsted. White had no formal architectural training; he began his career at the age of 18 as the principal assistant to
Henry Hobson Richardson Henry Hobson Richardson, FAIA (September 29, 1838 – April 27, 1886) was an American architect, best known for his work in a style that became known as Richardsonian Romanesque. Along with Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Richardson is one ...
, the most important American architect of the day and creator of a style recognized today as "Richardsonian Romanesque". He remained with Richardson for six years, playing a major role in the design of the
William Watts Sherman House The William Watts Sherman House is a notable house designed by American architect H. H. Richardson, with later interiors by Stanford White. It is a National Historic Landmark, generally acknowledged as one of Richardson's masterpieces and the p ...
in Newport, Rhode Island, an important Shingle Style work. White joined the partnership in 1879, and quickly became known as the artistic leader of the firm. McKim's connections helped secure early commissions, while Mead served as the managing partner. Their work applied the principles of
Beaux-Arts architecture Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorpora ...
, with its classical design traditions and training in drawing and proportion, and the related
City Beautiful movement The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the ...
after 1893. The designers quickly found wealthy and influential clients amidst the bustle and economic vigor of metropolitan New York. Initially the firm distinguished itself with innovative Shingle Style summer houses such as Victor Newcomb's house in
Elberon, New Jersey Elberon is an unincorporated community that is part of Long Branch in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP code 07740. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population for ZIP ...
(1880–1881), the
Isaac Bell House The Isaac Bell House is a historic house and National Historic Landmark at 70 Perry Street (at the corner with Bellevue Avenue) in Newport, Rhode Island. Also known as Edna Villa, it is one of the outstanding examples of Shingle Style architect ...
in
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...
(1883), and
Joseph Choate Joseph Hodges Choate (January 24, 1832 – May 14, 1917) was an American lawyer and diplomat. Choate was associated with many of the most famous litigations in American legal history, including the Kansas prohibition cases, the Chinese exclusi ...
's house "Naumkeag" in
Lenox, Massachusetts Lenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The town is based in Western Massachusetts and part of the Pittsfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,095 at the 2020 census. Lenox is the site of Shakespeare & Company and T ...
(1885-88). Their status rose when McKim was asked to design the Boston Public Library in 1887, ensuring a new group of institutional clients following its successful completion in 1895. The firm had begun to use classical sources from Modern French, Renaissance and even Roman buildings as sources of inspiration for daring new work. In 1877 White and McKim led their partners on a "sketching tour" of New England, visiting many of the key houses of Puritan leaders and early masterpieces of the colonial period. Their work began to incorporate influences from these buildings, contributing to a revival of interest in American art and architecture:
The Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exposition, Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened A ...
. The H.A.C. Taylor house in Newport (1882–1886) was the first of their designs to use overt quotations from colonial buildings, but many would follow. A less successful but daring variation of a formal Georgian plan was White's house for Commodore William Edgar, also in Newport (1884-86). Rather than traditional red brick or the pink pressed masonry of the Bell house, White tried a tawny, almost brown color, leaving the building neither fish nor fowl. The partners added talented designers and associates as the 1890s loomed, with Thomas Hastings, John Carrère,
Henry Bacon Henry Bacon (November 28, 1866February 16, 1924) was an American Beaux-Arts architect who is best remembered for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (built 1915–1922), which was his final project. Education and early career Henr ...
and Joseph M. Wells on the payroll in their expanding office. With a larger staff, each partner could have a "studio" of designers at his disposal, rather like the organization of a modern design firm. This increased their capacity for doing bigger and bigger jobs, such as the design of entire college campuses for Columbia and New York Universities, and a massive entertainment complex at Madison Square Garden. They were entering a new phase of outstanding productivity and achievements.


Flowering and major works

McKim, Mead and White gained prominence as a cultural and artistic force through their construction of
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
. White secured the job from the
Vanderbilt family The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthr ...
, and the other partners brought former clients into the project as investors. The extraordinary building opened its doors in 1890. What had once been a dilapidated arena for horse shows was now a multi-purpose entertainment palace, with a larger arena, a theater, apartments in a Spanish style tower, restaurants, and a roof garden with views both uptown and downtown from 34th Street. White's masterpiece was a testament to his creative imagination, and his taste for the pleasures of city life. The architects paved the way for many subsequent colleagues by fraternizing with the rich in a number of other settings similar to The Garden, enhancing their social status during the
Progressive Era The Progressive Era (late 1890s – late 1910s) was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States focused on defeating corruption, monopoly, waste and inefficiency. The main themes ended during Am ...
. McKim, Mead and White designed not only the
Century Association The Century Association is a private social, arts, and dining club in New York City, founded in 1847. Its clubhouse is located at 7 West 43rd Street near Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. It is primarily a club for men and women with distinction ...
building (1891), but also many other clubs around Manhattan: the
Colony Club The Colony Club is a women-only private social club in New York City. Founded in 1903 by Florence Jaffray Harriman, wife of J. Borden Harriman, as the first social club established in New York City by and for women, it was modeled on similar ...
, the
Metropolitan Club The Metropolitan Club of New York is a private social club on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded as a gentlemen's club in 1891 for men only, but it was one of the first major clubs in New York to admit women, t ...
, the
Harmonie Club The Harmonie Club is a private social club in New York City. Founded in 1852, the club is the second oldest social club in New York. It is located at 4 East 60th Street, in a building designed by Stanford White. History Originally named the ...
, and the
University Club of New York The University Club of New York (also known as University Club) is a private social club at 1 West 54th Street and Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Founded to celebrate the union of social duty and intellec ...
. Though White's subsequent life was plagued by scandals, and McKim's by depression and the loss of his second wife, the firm continued to produce magnificent and varied work in New York and abroad. They worked for the titans of industry, transportation and banking, designing not only classical buildings (the
New York Herald Building Herald Square is a major commercial intersection in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, formed by the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue (officially Avenue of the Americas), and 34th Street. Named for the now-defunct '' N ...
,
Morgan Library The Morgan Library & Museum, formerly the Pierpont Morgan Library, is a museum and research library in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is situated at 225 Madison Avenue, between 36th Street to the south and 37th S ...
,
Villard Houses The Villard Houses are a set of former residences comprising a historic landmark at 451–457 Madison Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by the architect Joseph Morrill Wells ...
, and
Rhode Island State Capitol The Rhode Island State House, the capitol of the state of Rhode Island, is located at 900 Smith Street just below the crest of Smith Hill, on the border of downtown in Providence. It is a neoclassical building designed by McKim, Mead & White ...
), but also planning factory towns (
Echota Chota (also spelled Chote, Echota, Itsati, and other similar variations) is a historic Overhill Cherokee town site in Monroe County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Developing after nearby Tanasi, Chota ( chr, ᎢᏣᏘ, translit=Its ...
, near
Niagara Falls, New York Niagara Falls is a City (New York), city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagara ...
;
Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina Roanoke Rapids () is a city in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,754 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Roanoke Rapids Micropolitan Statistical Area, and is also an anchor city of the Rocky Mou ...
; and
Naugatuck, Connecticut Naugatuck is a consolidated borough and town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town spans both sides of the Naugatuck River just south of Waterbury and includes the communities of Union City on the east side of the river, which ...
), and working on university campuses (the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...
,
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, and Columbia). The magnificent Low Library (1897) at Columbia was similar to Thomas Jefferson's at the University of Virginia, where White added an academic building on the other side of the Lawn. Some of their later, classical country houses also enhanced their reputation with wealthy oligarchs and critics alike. The Frederick Vanderbilt mansion (1895-98) at
Hyde Park, New York Hyde Park is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States, bordering the Hudson River north of Poughkeepsie. Within the town are the hamlets of Hyde Park, East Park, Staatsburg, and Haviland. Hyde Park is known as the hometown of Frankl ...
and White's "Rosecliff" for
Tessie Oelrichs Theresa Alice "Tessie" Fair (June 30, 1871 – November 22, 1926) was an American socialite. She went from being the daughter of a hard-scrabble California miner to become heiress to a fortune in Comstock Lode gold and silver, the wife of steamsh ...
(1898–1902) in Newport were elegant venues for the society chronicled by
Edith Wharton Edith Wharton (; born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and interior designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray ...
and
Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
. Newly-wealthy Americans were seeking the right spouses for their sons and daughters, among them idle aristocrats from European families with dwindling financial resources. When called for, the firm could also deliver a house-full of continental antiques and works of art, many acquired by Stanford White from dealers abroad. The Clarence McKay house in Roslyn, New York, was probably the most opulent of these flights of fancy. Though many are gone, some now serve new uses, such as "Florham", in
Madison, New Jersey Madison is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 16,937. Located along the Morris & Essex Lines, it is noted for Madison's historic railroad station becoming one ...
(1897–1900), now the home of
Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...
. New York's enormous
Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinc ...
(1906–1910) was the firm's crowning achievement, reflecting not only its commitment to new technological advances, but also to architectural history stretching back to Greek and Roman times. McKim, Mead & White also designed the General Post Office Building across from Penn Station at the same time, part of which became the new Amtrak station in 2021. The original Penn Station was demolished in 1963–1964 and replaced with a newer
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
, in spite of large opposition to the move. One of the firm's last major works in the city was the
Manhattan Municipal Building The David N. Dinkins Municipal Building (originally the Municipal Building and later known as the Manhattan Municipal Building) is a 40-story, building at 1 Centre Street, east of Chambers Street, in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhatt ...
(1906–1913) adjacent to City Hall, built following the deaths of both White (1906) and McKim (1909) and the financial collapse of the original partnership.


Later partnerships

The firm retained its name long after the deaths of founding partners White (1906), McKim (1909), and Mead (1928). The major partners became William M. Kendall and Lawrence Grant White, Stanford's son. Among the firm's final works under the name McKim, Mead & White was the
National Museum of American History The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history. Among the items on display is t ...
in Washington, D.C. Designed primarily by partner James Kellum Smith, it opened in 1964. Smith died in 1961, and the firm was soon renamed Steinmann, Cain and White. In 1971, it became Walker O. Cain and Associates.


Selected works


New York City


New England and New York State


New Jersey


Washington, D.C.


Other U.S. locations


Other countries


Notable architects who worked for McKim, Mead & White

*
Henry Bacon Henry Bacon (November 28, 1866February 16, 1924) was an American Beaux-Arts architect who is best remembered for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (built 1915–1922), which was his final project. Education and early career Henr ...
– worked at the firm from about 1886 through 1897; left with fellow employee
James Brite James Brite (September 13, 1864''U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925'' – February 6, 1942) was an American architect. Early life James Brite was born in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, the son of George W. Brite and Mary Richardson.https: ...
to open their own office. *
William A. Boring William Alciphron Boring (September 9, 1859 – May 5, 1937) was an American architect noted for co-designing the Immigration Station at Ellis Island in New York harbor. Career Boring studied first at the University of Illinois, then spen ...
– worked at the firm in 1890 before forming a separate partnership with
Edward Lippincott Tilton Edward Lippincott Tilton (19 October 1861 – 5 January 1933) was an American architect, with a practice in New York City, where he was born. He specialized in the design of libraries, completing about one hundred in the U.S. and Canada, inc ...
. *
Charles Lewis Bowman Charles Lewis Bowman (1890 – May 31, 1971) was an American architect. Born in New York City December 9, 1890 but raised in Mount Vernon, New York he graduated from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York with both his Bachelors (Class of 1912) a ...
– a draftsman at the firm until 1922, noted for his large number of private residences throughout
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 o ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
including
Bronxville Bronxville is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States, located approximately north of Midtown Manhattan. It is part of the town of Eastchester. The village comprises one square mile (2.5 km2) of land in its entirety, ...
,
Pelham Manor Pelham Manor is an affluent village located in Westchester County, New York. As of the 2020 census, the village had a total population of 5,752. It is located in the town of Pelham. History The Bolton Priory, Edgewood House, and Pelhamdale are ...
,
Mamaroneck Mamaroneck ( ) is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 31,758 at the 2020 United States census over 29,156 at the 2010 census. There are two villages contained within the town: Larchmont and the Village of M ...
and
New Rochelle New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...
. *
A. Page Brown A. Page Brown, born Arthur Page Brown (December 1859 – January 21, 1896), was an American architect known for buildings that incorporated classical styles in the Beaux-Arts manner. Having first worked in the office of McKim, Mead and White ...
– worked with the firm beginning in the 1880s; went to California, where he was known for the
San Francisco Ferry Building The San Francisco Ferry Building is a terminal for ferries that travel across the San Francisco Bay, a food hall and an office building. It is located on The Embarcadero in San Francisco, California and is served by Golden Gate Ferry and San ...
. *
Walker O. Cain Walker O. Cain , Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, FAIA, List of fellows of the American Academy in Rome (1896–1970), FAAR, National Academician, NA (April 14, 1915 – June 1, 1993) was a prize-winning American architect. Biog ...
– worked at the firm; he took it over in 1961 and renamed it several times. *
J.E.R. Carpenter James Edwin Ruthven Carpenter Jr. (January 7, 1867 – June 11, 1932) was the leading architect of luxury residential high-rise buildings in New York City in the early 1900s. Biography He studied at the University of Tennessee and at the Mas ...
– worked at the firm for several years before designing much of upper Fifth and
Park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
Avenues, including
907 Fifth Avenue 907 Fifth Avenue is a luxury residential housing cooperative in Manhattan, New York City, United States. The 12-story, limestone-faced building is located at Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street on a site once occupied by the 1893 residence of James ...
, 825 Fifth Avenue,
625 Park Avenue 625 Park Avenue is a co-op residential building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of East 65th Street and Park Avenue. It is noted for its spacious residences, well-known residents, The building was designed ...
, 550 Park Avenue and the Lincoln Building on 42nd Street. *
John Merven Carrère John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...
(1858–1911) – worked with McKim, Mead & White from 1883 through 1885, then joined Thomas Hastings to form the firm
Carrère and Hastings Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère ( ; November 9, 1858 – March 1, 1911) and Thomas Hastings (architect), Thomas Hastings (March 11, 1860 – October 22, 1929), was one of the outstanding American Beaux-Arts architecture, Be ...
. *
Thomas Harlan Ellett Thomas Harlan Ellett (September 2, 1880 – November 24, 1951) was an architect who practiced in New York City. Early life and education Harlan Ellett, as he was known in his youth, was born in 1880 and grew up in Sherman Township, Iowa, the ...
(1880–1951) *
Cass Gilbert Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minnesota, Arkansas and We ...
– worked with the firm until 1882, when he went to work with
James Knox Taylor James Knox Taylor (October 11, 1857 – August 27, 1929) was Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury from 1897 to 1912. His name is listed '' ex officio'' as supervising architect of hundreds of federal buildings ...
; later designed many notable structures, among them the
George Washington Bridge The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey, with Manhattan in New York City. The bridge is named after George Washington, the first president of the United St ...
and the
Woolworth Building The Woolworth Building is an early skyscraper, early American skyscraper designed by architect Cass Gilbert located at 233 Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the tallest building in ...
. * Arthur Loomis Harmon – later of
Shreve, Lamb and Harmon Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon, founded as Shreve & Lamb, was an architect, architectural firm, best known for designing the Empire State Building, the tallest building in the world at the time of its completion in 1931. History The firm was founded in ...
. * Thomas Hastings (1860–1929) – of
Carrère and Hastings Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère ( ; November 9, 1858 – March 1, 1911) and Thomas Hastings (architect), Thomas Hastings (March 11, 1860 – October 22, 1929), was one of the outstanding American Beaux-Arts architecture, Be ...
, worked with McKim, Mead & White from 1883 through 1885. *
John Galen Howard John Galen Howard (May 8, 1864 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts – July 18, 1931 in San Francisco, California) was an American architect and educator who began his career in New York before moving to California. He was the principal architect at in ...
(1864–1931) *
John Mead Howells John Mead Howells, (; August 14, 1868 – September 22, 1959), was an American architect. Early life and education Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of author William Dean Howells, he earned an undergraduate degree from Harvard Unive ...
(1868–1959) *
William Mitchell Kendall William Mitchell Kendall (13 February 1856 – 8 August 1941) was an American architect who spent his career with the New York firm of McKim, Mead & White, the leading American architectural practice at the turn of the century, renowned for i ...
(1856–1941) – worked with the firm from 1882 until his death. *
Harrie T. Lindeberg Harrie Thomas Lindeberg (1879 – January 10, 1959) was an American architect, best known for designing country houses in the United States. Among academic eclectic architects Lindeberg found a niche as "the American Edwin Lutyens, Lutyens" by wo ...
– started at the firm in 1895 as an assistant to Stanford White and remained with the firm until White's death in 1906. *
Austin W. Lord Austin Willard Lord FAIA (June 27, 1860 – January 19, 1922) was an American architect and painter. He was a partner in the firm of Lord & Hewlett, best known for their work on the design of the former William A. Clark House on Fifth Ave ...
– worked with the firm in 1890–1894 on designs for
Brooklyn Museum of Arts and Sciences The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...
, the
Metropolitan Club The Metropolitan Club of New York is a private social club on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded as a gentlemen's club in 1891 for men only, but it was one of the first major clubs in New York to admit women, t ...
and buildings at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
*
Harold Van Buren Magonigle Harold Van Buren Magonigle (1867–1935) was an American architect, artist, and author best known for his memorials. He achieved his greatest success as a designer of monuments, but his artistic practices included sculpture, painting, writing, ...
(1867–1935) *
Albert Randolph Ross Albert Randolph Ross (October 26, 1868 – October 27, 1948) was an American architect. Born in Westfield, Massachusetts, he was a son of architect John W. Ross. Biography Albert Ross attended grammar school in Westfield and later in Davenport, ...
* Philip Sawyer (1868–1949) * James Kellum Smith (1893–1961) – a member of the firm from 1924 to 1961; full partner in 1929, and the last surviving partner of MM&W. He primarily designed academic buildings, but his last major work was the
National Museum of American History The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history. Among the items on display is t ...
. *
Egerton Swartwout Egerton Swartwout (March 3, 1870 – February 18, 1943) was an American architect, most notably associated with his New York City architectural firm Tracy and Swartwout and McKim, Mead & White. His buildings, numbering over 100, were typical ...
of
Tracy and Swartwout Tracy and Swartwout was a prominent New York City architectural firm headed by Evarts Tracy and Egerton Swartwout. History Evarts Tracy (1868–1922) was the son of first cousins Jeremiah Evarts Tracy and Martha Sherman Greene. His paternal grandmo ...
– both Tracy and Swartwout worked together for the firm on multiple projects prior to starting their own practice. *
Edward Lippincott Tilton Edward Lippincott Tilton (19 October 1861 – 5 January 1933) was an American architect, with a practice in New York City, where he was born. He specialized in the design of libraries, completing about one hundred in the U.S. and Canada, inc ...
– helped design the
Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse'') of the Commonweal ...
in 1890 before leaving with Boring. *
Robert von Ezdorf Robert von Ezdorf (August 15, 1889 – March 26, 1956) was an American architect and composer. He specialized in high-rise office buildings and also designed the interiors of the Grand Hyatt New York, Commodore Hotel, the Waldorf-Astoria and Hot ...
– took over much of the firm's business after White's death. * Joseph Morrill Wells (1853–1890) – worked as firm's first Chief Draftsman from 1879 to 1890; often considered to be the firm's "fourth partner", and largely responsible for its
Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...
designs in the 1880s. *
William M. Whidden William Marcy Whidden (February 10, 1857 – July 27, 1929) was a founding member of Whidden & Lewis, a prominent architectural firm in Portland, Oregon, United States. Early life William Whidden was born on February 10, 1857, in Boston, Massachu ...
– worked at the firm from at least 1882 until 1888; projects included the Tacoma and
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
hotels in Washington and Oregon, respectively; moved to
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, in 1888 to finish the hotel and established his own firm with
Ion Lewis Ion Lewis (1858-1933) was a founding member of a Portland architectural firm Whidden & Lewis that was formed around the beginning of the 20th century. The firm was formed with partner William M. Whidden. Their residential buildings were mostly in t ...
*
York and Sawyer York and Sawyer was an American architectural firm active between 1898 and 1949. The firms' work is exemplary of Beaux-Arts architecture as it was practiced in the United States. The partners Edward York (July 23, 1863– December 30, 1928) and ...
– Edward York (1863–1928) and Philip Sawyer (1868–1949) worked together for the firm before starting their own partnership in 1898.


References


Citations


General bibliography

* Baker, Paul R. ''Stanny: The Gilded Life of Stanford White''. New York: Free Press, 1989. . * Broderick, Mosette. ''Triumvirate: McKim, Mead & White: Art, Architecture, Scandal, and Class in America's Gilded Age'' New York: Knopf, 2010. . * McKim, Mead & White. ''A Monograph of the Work of McKim, Mead & White, 1879–1915''. New York: Architectural Book Publishing Co., 1915-1920, 4 volumes. Reprinted as ''The Architecture of McKim, Mead & White in Photographs, Plans and Elevations,'' with an introduction by
Richard Guy Wilson Richard Guy Wilson (born 1940) is a noted architectural historian and Commonwealth Professor in Architectural History at the University of Virginia. Wilson was born and raised in Los Angeles (residing in a house designed by Rudolph Schindler). H ...
(New York: Dover Publications, 1990). . * Roth, Leland M. ''The Architecture of McKim, Mead & White, 1870–1920: A Building List'' (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities). Garland Publishing (September 1, 1978). . * Roth, Leland M. ''McKim, Mead and White, Architects''. Harper & Row; First edition (October 1985). .


External links


''McKim, Mead & White: Selected Works 1879 to 1915''
published by
Princeton Architectural Press Princeton Architectural Press is a small press publisher, specializing in books on architecture, design, photography, landscape, and visual culture, with over 1,000 titles on its backlist. In 2013, it added a line of stationery products, including ...
, 2018
McKim, Mead & White in Buffalo

McKim, Mead & White Architectural Records Collection
at the New-York Historical Society
Brooklyn Museum Building Online Exhibition

McKim, Mead & White architectural records and drawings, c. 1879–1958, held by the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mckim, Mead, And White 1872 establishments in New York (state) 19th-century American architects 20th-century American architects American neoclassical architects Architects of the Boston Public Library Beaux Arts architects Defunct architecture firms based in New York City Historicist architects American railway architects