Charles Quincy Clapp (May 26, 1799 – March 1, 1868) was an American merchant and architect in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

. He was active in the first half of the 19th century.

Early life

Clapp was born in

, as the second known child of Asa Godfrey Clapp and Elizabeth Wendell Quincy. His younger brother, Asa Jr., became a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

Career

Fourteen of Clapp's designs were lost in the 1866 great fire of Portland. By October of that year, he had eleven brick buildings in the process of construction.

Selected notable works

* Charles Q. Clapp Block (Hay Building, original two storeys; 1826) * Portland Exchange Coffee House (1828) - lost in Portland's fire of 1866 * Charles Q. Clapp House (1832) * Park Place, Park Street (1848) * Printers' Exchange Block (1866) * 373 Fore Street (the home of Bull Feeney's as of 2022)

Personal life

Clapp married Julia Octavia Wingate, granddaughter of General

Henry Dearborn Henry Dearborn (February 23, 1751 – June 6, 1829) was an American military officer and politician. In the Revolutionary War, he served under Benedict Arnold in his expedition to Quebec, of which his journal provides an important record ...

, in the early 1820s. His father gave the newlyweds the former Hugh McLellan House, at the corner of Portland's Spring Street and

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

, as a wedding gift. The couple had two known children: daughters Julia and Georgianna. Julia married John Carroll. They lived adjacent to

Victoria Mansion Victoria Mansion, also known as the Morse-Libby House or Morse-Libby Mansion, is a historic house in downtown Portland, Maine, United States. The brownstone exterior, elaborate interior design, opulent furnishings and early technological conven ...

, on Park Street. Julia died in 1893; she is interred in Portland's Evergreen Cemetery. In 1832, Clapp designed and built his home at today's 97 Spring Street in Portland, having sold the adjacent McLellan House to his father-in-law. What is known as the Charles Q. Clapp House is now owned by the

Portland Museum of Art The Portland Museum of Art, or PMA, is the largest and oldest public art institution in Maine. Founded as the Portland Society of Art in 1882. It is located in the downtown area known as The Arts District in Portland, Maine. History The PMA use ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1972. The Clapps only lived in the new structure for a few years: in 1837, they returned to the McLellan House to live with Julia's widowed mother.

Death

Clapp died in 1868, aged 68. He is interred in Portland's

Eastern Cemetery Eastern Cemetery is a historic cemetery at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Congress Street in the Munjoy Hill neighborhood of Portland, Maine. Established in 1668, it is the city's oldest historic site. It has more than 4,000 marked g ...

. His wife survived him by nine years; she died on February 13, 1877.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clapp, Charles Q. 1799 births 1868 deaths 19th-century American architects Architects from Portland, Maine Burials at Eastern Cemetery