Benjamin F. Dwight was an American architect practicing in Boston, Massachusetts.

Life and career

edit

Benjamin Franklin Dwight was born September 5, 1824 in Boston, to John and Mary (Corey) Dwight.[1] Dwight was educated at the Boston Latin School, graduating in 1844.[2] After a brief stint in the mercantile trade, he entered the office of architect George Snell as a student, and later became his chief assistant. Dwight was with Snell when Snell was designing the Boston Music Hall. Snell left soon after the building contracts were signed, embarking on a research trip to England. Dwight supervised construction of the foundations in his absence.[3]

After the Music Hall was completed Dwight left Snell to etablish his own practice.[3] He then joined the office of Arthur Gilman in 1854. This partnership lasted only until 1855, and Dwight returned to his own practice. He continued to work up until his death, which occured in Boston in 1893.[4]

Dwight was elected to fellowship in the Boston Society of Architects in 1867, which became affiliated with the American Institute of Architects in 1870. He retired from the organization in 1879.[5]

Personal life

edit

Dwight was in ill health for much of his life, and in his later career this required him to scale back his practice.[4]

Dwight was the younger brother of John Sullivan Dwight,[1] the influential music critic and publisher of Dwight's Journal of Music. Dwight and his family were descendants of John Dwight, who immigrated to Massachusetts in 1635.[1]

Legacy

edit

From before 1862 and from 1865 to 1870, John A. Fox was employed in Dwight's office.[6]

Architectural works

edit
edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Credited to the partnership of Gilman & Dwight.
  2. ^ A contributing property to the Front Street Historic District, NRHP-listed in 1973.
  3. ^ Later known as the New Tremont Theatre and incorporated into the Studio Building in 1865.
  4. ^ Replaced by a building designed by Bryant & Rogers.
  5. ^ Though mostly demolished during the 1930s, the Governor's House, designed by Dwight, is still standing and was NRHP-listed in 1974.
  6. ^ Later known as the Worcester Theatre.

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c Benjamin Woodbridge Dwight, The History of the Descendants of John Dwight, of Dedham, Mass., vol. 2 (Clinton, NY: Benjamin W. Dwight, 1874)
  2. ^ Catalogue of the Boston Public Latin School. With an Historical Sketch (Boston: Boston Latin School Association, 1886)
  3. ^ a b "The Boston Music Hall-Its Favorable Site-Execution of the Design," Dwight's Journal of Music 2, no. 7 (November 20 1852): 53-54.
  4. ^ a b c d "Death of B. F. Dwight, Architect," American Architect and Building News 42, no. 929 (October 14 1893): 13.
  5. ^ H. Langford Warren, "Annual Report of the Boston Chamber A. I. A.," Proceedings of the Twenty-seventh Annual Convention of the American Institute of Architects, ed. Alfred Stone (Chicago: Inland Architect Press, 1893): 49-57.
  6. ^ "Fox, John A.," Boston of To-day: A Glance at its History and Characteristics (Boston: Post Publishing Company, 1892): 230.
  7. ^ Roger G. Reed, Building Victorian Boston: The Architecture of Gridley J. F. Bryant (Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 2006)
  8. ^ "The Artists' Receptions," Dwight's Journal of Music 16, no. 20 (February 11 1860): 367.
  9. ^ John M. Grove, Norwood (Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2000)
  10. ^ "City Affairs," Boston Daily Advertiser, March 8 1864, 1.
  11. ^ "Old House in Boston," Historical Magazine 8, no. 5 (May 1864): 182-183.
  12. ^ a b James F. O'Gorman, "Two Granite Tents at Bay View on Cape Ann" in Essex Institute Historical Collections 118, no. x (October, 1982): 241-247.
  13. ^ "Theatre Improvements," Boston Daily Advertiser, January 30 1867, 1.
  14. ^ Boston Illustrated, ed. Edwin M. Bacon (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Company, 1886)
  15. ^ Historic Monument Detail: ASF.907
  16. ^ "Dorchester," Boston Daily Advertiser, September 17 1867, 1.
  17. ^ James W. North, The History of Augusta (Augusta, ME: Clapp and North, 1870)
  18. ^ Historic Building Detail: NRD.186
  19. ^ "The Worcester Music Hall," Boston Daily Advertiser, March 10 1869, 1.
  20. ^ "City Affairs," Boston Daily Advertiser, April 26 1870, 4.
  21. ^ "Local and Other Items," Bangor (ME) Daily Whig and Courier, November 29 1870, 3.
  22. ^ "Real Estate," Boston Daily Globe, March 17 1873, 5.
  23. ^ Historic Building Detail: BOS.2237
  24. ^ a b Charles S. Damrell, A Half Century of Boston Building (Boston: Louis P. Hager, 1895)