Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Gilman, Arthur (architect)

GILMAN, Arthur, architect, b. in Newburyport, Mass., 5 Nov., 1821; d. in Syracuse, N. Y., 11 July, 1882. He was educated at Trinity college, Hartford. In 1844 he published a paper on “American Architecture” in the “North American Review,” which was translated into several foreign languages. He was then invited to deliver twelve lectures before the Lowell institute, Boston, after which he went to Europe on a tour of professional observation. On his return to Boston, he advocated the filling in and improvement of the “Back bay” district, then lying waste. He urged this plan upon the city government and the public for years, before the legislature and elsewhere, and finally his views were carried out by the state. The width and extent of Commonwealth avenue, now one of the finest streets in the world, is due almost entirely to his persistent efforts. Mr. Gilman designed and built the Boston city hall, which is regarded as his best work. In 1865 he removed to New York. The Equitable insurance company's building, in New York city, was designed by him. St. John's church and parsonage, at Clifton, Staten Island, and much of the capitol at Albany, are his work. Mr. Gilman was a member of the American institute of architects.