George Cary (1859 – May 5, 1945), was a major American architect from New York State known for his designs for the

Pan-American Exposition The Pan-American Exposition was a world's fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park–Front Park System, Delaware Park, extending ...

of 1901 in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

Early life and education

George Cary was born in 1859. He was one of seven children born to prominent Buffalo resident, Dr. Walter Cary (1818–1881) and Julia Cary (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Love). His siblings included: Trumbull Cary; Thomas Cary; Charles Cary, who in 1879 married Evelyn Rumsey; Jennie Cary, who married Laurence D. Rumsey; Walter Cary Jr.; and Seward Cary. His nephew through his sister Jennie, was Charles Cary Rumsey (1879–1922), who married Mary Harriman, daughter of millionaire railroad executive

E. H. Harriman Edward Henry Harriman (February 20, 1848 – September 9, 1909) was an American financier and railroad executive. Early life Harriman was born on February 20, 1848, in Hempstead, New York, the son of Orlando Harriman Sr., an Episcopal clergy ...

and Mary Williamson. Cary was the paternal grandson of

Trumbull Cary Trumbull Cary (August 11, 1787 Mansfield, Connecticut – June 20, 1869 Batavia, New York) was an American banker, lawyer, and politician from New York. Early life Trumbull Cary was born in Mansfield, Connecticut, on August 11, 1787. He was ...

(1787–1869), a

New York State Senator The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

and Assemblyman. His maternal grand-uncle was Brig. General

George Maltby Love George Maltby Love (January 1, 1831 – March 15, 1887) was a colonel in the Union Army and a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions in the American Civil War. Civil War George Love enlisted in the 21st New York Volunteer Infantry on May 9, 18 ...

Career

Pan-American Exposition - Ethnology and Government Buildings

Cary attended and graduated from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

and the

Columbia School of Architecture The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) is the architecture school of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. It is also home to the Masters of Science program in Advanced Architectur ...

. After graduating from Columbia, Cary spent a brief apprenticeship with

McKim, Mead and White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in ''fin de siècle'' New York. The firm's founding partners, Cha ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Directly after that, he went to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and studied at the L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts from 1886 until 1889, the first

Buffalonian Buffalo is a city in the U.S. state of New York and county seat of Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River on the Canadian border. With a population of 278,349 according to t ...

to do so. In 1891, he returned to Buffalo and set up practice. In the mid-1890s, Cary redesigned some rooms in the

Ansley Wilcox House Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site preserves the Ansley Wilcox House, at 641 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, New York. Here, after the assassination of William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office as President of the ...

, which later became known as

Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site preserves the Ansley Wilcox House, at 641 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, New York. Here, after the assassination of William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office as President of the ...

as it was the site where

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

took the oath of office as

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

on September 14, 1901, after the assassination of

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

at the

of 1901. When the Exposition came to Buffalo, Cary became one of the three local architects on the Board of Architects for the Exposition and designed the Ethnology Building and the

New York State pavilion The New York State Pavilion is a pavilion at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, New York. Constructed for the 1964 New York World's Fair, it was designed by the architects Philip Johnson and Richard Foster, with Lev Zet ...

for the Pan-American Exposition. The pavilion was the only permanent building created for the Exposition and later became the

Buffalo Historical Society The Buffalo History Museum (founded as the Buffalo Historical Society, and later named the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society) is located at 1 Museum Court (formerly 25 Nottingham Court) in Buffalo, New York, just east of Elmwood Avenue an ...

, then the

Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society The Buffalo History Museum (founded as the Buffalo Historical Society, and later named the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society) is located at 1 Museum Court (formerly 25 Nottingham Court) in Buffalo, New York, just east of Elmwood Avenue an ...

, and today is the Buffalo History Museum.

Notable projects

* Wadsworth House (1900) *

Buffalo History Museum The Buffalo History Museum (founded as the Buffalo Historical Society, and later named the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society) is located at 1 Museum Court (formerly 25 Nottingham Court) in Buffalo, New York, just east of Elmwood Avenue an ...

(1901) * Ethnology Building (1901) * Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company Administration Building (1906–1907) *

Buffalo General Hospital John R. Oishei Children's Hospital (viewed from Ellicott Street in 2017) Kaleida Health, founded in 1998, is a not-for-profit healthcare network that manages five hospitals in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. Prior to the merger ...

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

buildings * Buffalo Country Club * Forest Lawn's Delaware Avenue Gate (Neoclassical) * Forest Lawn Administration Building (Neoclassical)

Personal life

In 1908, he married Allithea Birge, daughter of George K. Birge and Carrie Birge (Birge wallpaper and

Pierce-Arrow The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company was an American Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York, active from 1901 to 1938. Although best known for its expensive Luxury vehicle, luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow also manuf ...

cars). Cary designed features on their home at 460 Franklin Street in the

Italianate style The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Ita ...

. Together they had: * George Cary, Jr. (1911–1971), who married in Marguerite Warren, a descendant of the Brevoort family, in 1934. * Allithea M. B. Cary (1913–1993), who married Francis E. Largo (1915–1969). * Maria Love Cary (1915–2009), who married Howard Bissell, Jr. (b. 1913), the nephew of Wilson S. Bissell, in 1936. * Charles Cary (1916–1985), who married Rhoda Gordon Coogan, the granddaughter of Dr.

Henry Fairfield Osborn Henry Fairfield Osborn, Sr. (August 8, 1857 – November 6, 1935) was an American paleontologist, geologist and eugenics advocate. He was professor of anatomy at Columbia University, president of the American Museum of Natural History for 25 y ...

, in 1947. Cary was a founder of the

Beaux-Arts Institute of Design The Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (BAID, later the National Institute for Architectural Education) was an art and architectural school at 304 East 44th Street in Turtle Bay, Manhattan, in New York City.American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

, of which he was a member for 53 years, a director of the Albright Art Gallery, member of the Fine Arts Academy. Allithea died in 1918 and he died in 1945, at eighty-six. Both are buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.

Philanthropy

In 1937, Cary donated what was then a 120 year old early American home to the city of

Batavia, New York Batavia is a city in and the county seat of Genesee County, New York, United States. It is located near the center of the county, surrounded by the Town of Batavia, which is a separate municipality. Batavia's population, as of the 2020 census, ...

, for its restoration and preservation as an example of early American architecture. The city ultimately returned the donation stating that they could not use taxpayer dollars to fund and pay for the upkeep of the residence.

Gallery

File:Buffalo&Erie County Historical Society.jpg,

File:Roosevelt Wilcox house.jpg, Interior of room in Wilcox House where Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of Presidency File:Birge Memorial - Forest Lawn, Buffalo.jpg, The Birge Memorial for George K. Birge, president of the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company.

References

External links

George Cary Plans, Drawings, Photos, and Clients
A list from the

. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cary (architect), George 1859 births 1945 deaths Architects from Buffalo, New York Burials at Forest Lawn Cemetery (Buffalo) Harvard University alumni Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni People from Buffalo, New York