Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church (51396511760)

Carl Pfeiffer (1834-1888) was a German 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 ...

practicing in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Life and career

Carl Pfeiffer was born in 1834 in Brunswick,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, and came to the United States as a teenager in 1850. He was trained in architecture and engineering in Ohio and elsewhere in the midwest before coming east to New York City circa 1860, where he worked as a draftsman for four additional years.Joseph Thomas, "Pfeiffer, Carl" in
Universal Pronouncing Dictionary of Biography and Mythology
' 2 (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1905) 711. At an unknown date he also worked with the Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan, who in 1868 called him a "friend and former pupil.""Metropolitan Savings Bank" in
Sloan's Architectural Review and Builders Journal
' 1 (November, 1868): 296-299. In 1864 he established an office of his own in New York, and was in continuous practice until his death in 1888. He was particularly known for his expertise in ventilation systems, and designed many hospitals and churches. Pfeiffer joined 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 ...

in 1867, and was elected a Fellow in 1872. For two years he was secretary of the organization."Carl Pfeiffer" in
Engineering and Building Record
' 17, no. 23 (May 5, 1888): 323. Following his death, Pfeiffer's practice was purchased by architect Peter J. Lauritzen, then of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

. Lauritzen's works include the

Offerman Building The Offerman Building is a historic commercial building at 503–513 Fulton Street in the Downtown Brooklyn neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Danish architect Peter J. Lauritzen in the Romanesque Revival style, the eight-story buildin ...

in Brooklyn.

Personal life

Pfeiffer was married to Elizabeth Dayton in 1871. She was the daughter of Aaron Ogden Dayton, the long-time Fourth Auditor of the United States Treasury. They had two children, a son and a daughter. For the last few years of his life Pfeiffer was in poor health, and about a month prior to his death traveled south to Asheville, North Carolina in search of rest. On his return north he stopped at the home of relatives in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where he died April 27, 1888."Carl Pfeiffer's Death" in ''New York Times'', April 29, 1888, 10. His wife died August 21, 1913 in New York.

Legacy

Two of Pfeiffer's works have been designated New York City Landmarks, one of which has also been listed on the United States

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

Architectural works

* 140 West Broadway building,

(1866) * Church of the Messiah, 10 Park Ave,

(1866–68, demolished 1931)David W. Dunlap,
From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship
' (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004) * German Hospital, Park Ave and E 77th St,

(1867, demolished) * Metropolitan Savings Bank Building, 9 E 7th St,

(1867, NYCL 1969, NRHP 1979) *

Roosevelt Hospital Mount Sinai West, opened in 1871 as Roosevelt Hospital, is affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Mount Sinai Health System. The 514-bed facility is located in the Midtown West neighborhood of New York City. The f ...

, 1000 Tenth Ave,

(1869–71, demolished) *

Germania Fire Insurance Company Bowery Building Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north-c ...

, 357 Bowery,

(1870, NYCL 2010) * "Oak Terrace" for Valentine G. Hall Jr., 794 Woods Rd,

Clermont, New York Clermont is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 1,965 at the 2010 census. The name of the town is French for "Clear Mountain", in reference to the mountain views in the town. The town is in the southwestern cor ...

(1872) * Second Reformed (Hope) Church, 77 W 11th St,

Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River (formerly known locally as the Black R ...

(1872–74, demolished 1981) *

Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) church in New York City. The church, on Fifth Avenue at 7 West 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan, has approximately 2,200 members and is one of the larger PCUSA congregations. The ...

, 7 W 55th St,

(1873–75) * St. Omer Hotel, 724 (formerly 384) Sixth Ave,

(1873, demolished) *

Middletown State Hospital Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital (also known as Middletown State Hospital or Middletown Psychiatric Center) was a hospital for the treatment of mental disorders located in Middletown, New York. It opened on April 20, 1874, and was the fir ...

, 45 Ashley Ave,

Middletown, New York Middletown is the name of several places located in the U.S. state of New York: *Middletown, Delaware County, New York, a town *Middletown, Orange County, New York, a city *Middletown, Rockland County, New York, a former hamlet in the Town of Orang ...

(1874, demolished) * New Jersey Building,

Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

(1876, temporary building) * The Berkshire, 21 E 52nd St,

(1881, demolished) * House for Earl P. Mason, 23 Charlesfield St,

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

(1882, demolished 1952) * House for Annie Dayton and Mary Dayton, 1917 N St NW,

(1883, demolished) * Moses Taylor Hospital, 700 Quincy Ave,

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

(1883, partially extant) * House for Horatio N. Campbell Jr., 50 Narragansett Bay Ave,

Warwick, Rhode Island Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, the third largest city in the state with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately south of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, southwest of Boston, Massachu ...

(1884) * All Saints Memorial Episcopal Church (former), 11 Aspetuck Ave,

New Milford, Connecticut New Milford is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town is in western Connecticut, north of Danbury, on the banks of the Housatonic River, and it shares its border with the northeastern shore of Candlewood Lake. It is ...

(1885–88)"All Saints' Memorial Church, New Milford, Conn." in
Churchman
' 58, no. 16 (October 20, 1888): 497.

Gallery of architectural works

Bibliography

* Carl Pfeiffer, ''American Mansions and Cottages'' (Boston: Ticknor, 1889)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pfeiffer, Carl 1834 births 1888 deaths People from the Duchy of Brunswick German emigrants to the United States 19th-century American architects Fellows of the American Institute of Architects