John Andrewartha (25 August 1839 – 7 November 1916) was an English architect and civil engineer.

Early life and education

John Andrewartha was born at

Falmouth, Cornwall Falmouth ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Falmouth was founded in 1613 by the Killigrew family on a site near the existing Pendennis Castle. It developed as a po ...

, the son of William Guy and Sarah Elizabeth Andrewartha. He trained as an engineer in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

.Christopher Long
"John Andrewartha"
in ''Handbook of Texas Online'' (Texas State Historical Association 2010).

Career

Andrewartha began working in the United States in 1865, first based in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, and after 1881 in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. In Kentucky his firm won a design contest in 1866 for the Louisville City Hall. The city's Courier-Journal Building was also his design; it burned down in 1979. Andrewartha also designed the original entrance lodge, stables, clubhouse, and other structures at

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States that hosts the annual Kentucky Derby. It opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was prominent in Kentucky for many years. The first ...

, though they have all since been replaced. In 1872, Andrewartha and two others (the contractor and the site foreman) were charged with manslaughter after the fatal collapse of the Pettit Building in Louisville. But in late 1873, he was listed as the architect for the building of the Fourth Kentucky Lunatic Asylum project. Among his varied completed projects in Texas were the Austin City-County Hospital (1884), the first public hospital in Texas; the St. John's Home for Negro Orphans in East Austin (1911), the original

Montopolis Bridge The Montopolis Bridge is a historic Parker through truss bridge in Austin, Texas. It is located in the Montopolis neighborhood where a bicycle and pedestrian walkway crosses the Colorado River in southeastern Travis County. The bridge consists ...

over the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

(which was washed away in a 1935 flood), and Austin residences such as the Henry Hirschfeld House, which is 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 ...

Personal life

Andrewartha married Jemima Louisa Whillier on 11 June 1861 in Alverstoke, Hampshire, England. They had twelve children together; seven of their children lived to adulthood. John was widowed when Jemima died in May 1915 at their home in Austin, Texas; he died the following year, aged 77 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrewartha, John 1839 births 1916 deaths Architects from Cornwall American people of Cornish descent English emigrants to the United States People from Falmouth, Cornwall