John A. Wood (June 11, 1837 – December 18, 1910), was an 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 ...

. His work in upstate New York included projects in

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New ...

and

Kingston, New York Kingston is the only Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in, and the county seat of, Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grou ...

as well as four armories, in Kingston,

Newburgh Newburgh (''"new"'' + the English/Scots word ''"burgh"'') may refer to: Places Scotland *Newburgh, Fife, a former royal burgh *Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, a village England *Newburgh, Lancashire, a village * Newburgh, North Yorkshire, a village ...

Bethel Bethel (, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; ; ) was an ancient Israelite city and sacred space that is frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Bet ...

, and Watertown. His work in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

includes the

Tampa Bay Hotel Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

and

Old Hillsborough County Courthouse The Hillsborough County Courthouse was constructed in 1892 in the block bounded by Madison Street, Lafayette Street (now Kennedy Boulevard), Florida Avenue, and Franklin Street. This replaced an older courthouse in the same place. Designed by Joh ...

. His hotel work included the design of the Piney Woods Hotel,

Oglethorpe Hotel The Oglethorpe Hotel, located in downtown Brunswick, Georgia, was designed in 1888 by architect J. A. Wood and named after James Oglethorpe. It was built on top of the previous Oglethorpe House, which was burned during the American Civil War, Civ ...

, Mizzen Top Hotel, and

Grand Hotel A grand hotel is a large and luxurious hotel, especially one housed in a building with traditional architectural style. It began to flourish in the 1800s in Europe and North America. Grand Hotel may refer to: Hotels Africa * Grande Hotel Beir ...

. The Tampa Bay Hotel was listed on the

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

in 1972.

Biography

Wood was born in

Bethel, New York Bethel is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was estimated at 3,959 in 2020 United States census, 2020. The town received worldwide attention after it served as the locati ...

. He began his career in 1863 in

before moving his office to 153

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

in New York City. He completed several projects in the area of

as well as in

Brunswick, Georgia Brunswick ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Glynn County, Georgia, Glynn County in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As the primary urban and economic center of the lower southeast portion of Georgia, it is the second-larges ...

. Wood's parents were Stephen C. Wood and Mary Crist Wood.Kingston, New York: the architectural guide
by William Bertholet Rhoads, James Bleecker Wood is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Bethel. Wood established his practice in

by 1863. The buildings he designed in the area include several on and around the

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

campus. He also did work in Kingston, including the New York State Armory (1878) and, at the end of his career, the

Stuyvesant Hotel Stuyvesant Hotel in Kingston, New York is a historic building constructed in 1910. Designed by J.A. Wood, it went through a restoration in the early 1990s. The restored Stuyvesant Hotel won awards from the First Honor Award from American Institut ...

(1910). He also designed the Tremper House by

Mount Tremper Mount Tremper, officially known as Tremper Mountain and originally called Timothyberg, is one of the Catskill Mountains in the U.S. state of New York. It is located near the hamlet of Phoenicia, in the valley of Esopus Creek. At in elevation, ...

(constructed for wholesale grocery businessmen Thomas and Jacob Tremper), one of the earliest railroad resorts in the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

. It was located by the Phoenicia stop of the

Ulster and Delaware Railroad The Ulster and Delaware Railroad (U&D) was a railroad located in the state of New York. It was often advertised as "The Only All-Rail Route to the Catskill Mountains." At its greatest extent, the U&D extended from Kingston Point on the Hudson R ...

. Hotel design became his specialty and Wood achieved a reputation for his architectural style, especially his use of

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticism, Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mi ...

style. The Tampa Bay Hotel is his most famous work, a striking five-storied, 511-room building with ornate

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the st ...

features (sometimes referred to as gingerbread), as well as Moorish architectural features including

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

s, and

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

s. The resort was built for

Henry B. Plant Henry Bradley Plant (October 27, 1819 – June 23, 1899), was a businessman, entrepreneur, and investor involved with many transportation interests and projects, mostly railroads, in the southeastern United States. He was founder of the Plant Sy ...

, a railroad and shipping tycoon. It is now part of the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UTampa, UT or Tampa U) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UTampa offers more than 200 programs of study, including 19 master's degrees and a br ...

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

and is known as Plant Hall. It contains the

Henry B. Plant Museum The Henry B. Plant Museum (Plant Museum) is located in the south wing of Plant Hall on the University of Tampa's campus. It is located at 401 West Kennedy Boulevard in Tampa, Florida. Plant Hall was originally built by Henry B. Plant as the Tamp ...

. Wood stated his dislike for Queen Anne style in the ''

Thomasville Times ''For the daily newspaper of Thomasville, GA, see Thomasville Times-Enterprise.'' ''Thomasville Times'' is a bi-weekly newspaper that primarily covers Thomasville, North Carolina, United States and eastern Davidson County. The newspaper, founde ...

'' in 1886: "Dear Sir – Please correct the statement in Saturday’s Times that the ‘Piney Woods Hotel is built in the Queen Anne style.’ Neither the Piney Woods nor any other hotel that I have ever designed is in that beastly style, which is at best no style at all."March/ 1709 Reynolds Street, Brunswick
March/ April 2009 Golden Isles Magazine The summer home of Effingham Brown Sutton in West Islip, New York (ca. 1870)consisted of a mansion and several fine cottages. The main house, Woodruff Sutton cottage, and gate house were razed by railroad magnate Edwin Hawley. The last original building, owned by George Nicholas in later years, was demolished in the 1950s. Wood's design for the Grand Hotel (Highmount, New York) was a project for Thomas Cornell, owner of

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

s and the

. Cornell concluded that a hotel near the railroad would boost traffic and draw wealthy clients who would be hours away from

Grand Central Station Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

in New York City. The three-story hotel included elegant features such as

turrets Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * ...

, and a covered

piazza A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rela ...

along its 350-foot length. Wood's design for a large hotel in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

was covered by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in a January 6, 1894 article.

List of works

* Bardavon Opera House (1869), Poughkeepsie, New York *Kingston City Almshouse (1874), Kingston, New York *Kingston Argus Building (1874, demolished), Kingston, New York *

Newburgh Free Library The Newburgh Free Library serves as the public library for the residents of the Newburgh Enlarged City School District. The Newburgh Free Library is the Central Reference Library for the Ramapo-Catskill Library System and is a member of the Newbur ...

(1875), Newburgh, New York * New York State Armory (1878), Kingston, New York *Watertown Armory (1879), Watertown, New York (demolished 1966) * New York State Armory (1880), Newburgh, New York *Mizzen Top Hotel (1880) New Summer Hotels
January 9, 1881 New York Times *687-691 Broadway / 250-254 Mercer Street, New York City (1885–88) *

(1888), Brunswick, Georgia *

(1891), Tampa, Florida *

(1892, demolished 1966) *

Highmount, New York Shandaken is a town on the northern border of Ulster County, New York, United States, northwest of Kingston, New York. As of the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 2,866.2020 US Census, Shandaken, Ulster County, New York https://w ...

(1881)Grand Hotel
A Slide Talk by Annon Adams; A Program for the Town of Middletown Historical Society at Skene Memorial Library * Piney Woods Hotel,

Thomasville, Georgia Thomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The population was 18,881 in 2020. The city deems itself the "City of Roses" and holds an annual Rose Festival. The city features plantations open to the public, a histor ...

Mahoney-McGarvey House Brunswick Old Town Historic District is a historic district in Brunswick, Georgia. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 26, 1979 and includes an area bounded by 1st Street, Bay Street, New Bay Street, H Street, an ...

at 1709 Reynolds Street in Brunswick, Georgia *

Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery The Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery is a rural cemetery located in Poughkeepsie, New York and includes the gravesites of several notable figures. It also has a crematory. The forty-four acres of land used for the cemetery were purchased by Matthew Vas ...

gates and gatehouseVirginia Buechel
Frost Mausoleum
Friends of the August 2006 Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery Newsletter *

Vassar Brothers Institute The Vassar Institute building is located at Main and Vassar streets in Poughkeepsie (city), New York, Poughkeepsie, New York, United States, across from the architecturally similar Vassar Home for Aged Men. It is a late-19th century building combin ...

, Poughkeepsie, New York *

Vassar Home for Aged Men The former Vassar Home for Aged Men is located at Main and Vassar streets in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. It is just across the street from the architecturally similar Vassar Institute, and both buildings are credited to architect J.A. ...

, Poughkeepsie, New York *

Poughkeepsie Alms House Poughkeepsie Almshouse and City Infirmary is a historic almshouse and infirmary complex located at Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York. The complex includes five contributing buildings. The almshouse buildings has a three-story, seven-bay, ma ...

, Poughkeepsie, New York * Calisthenium and Riding Academy, Poughkeepsie, New York *

Akin Free Library __NOTOC__ The Akin Free Library on Quaker Hill is a historic eclectic late Victorian stone building in the hamlet of Quaker Hill, town of Pawling, Dutchess County, New York, USA, listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a histori ...

Pawling, New York Pawling may refer to: *Pawling (town), New York, in Dutchess County **Pawling (village), New York, in the town of Pawling *** Pawling (Metro-North station), train station for the village **Pawling Nature Reserve, in the northern section of the t ...

(1908) *

in Kingston, New York (1910)picture of Stuyvesant Hotel
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, J. A. 19th-century American architects 1837 births 1910 deaths People from Bethel, New York Architects from New York (state)