John Trautwine American Engineer Architect

John Cresson Trautwine (March 30, 1810,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania – September 14, 1883, Philadelphia) was an American

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

, architect, and engineering writer. A consultant on numerous canal projects in North and South America, he was later remembered for reporting in 1852 that a canal through Panama would be impossible.

Career

Trautwine began studying civil engineering in the office of William Strickland, an architect and early railroad civil engineer, and helped erect the second building of the

United States Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bull ...

. In 1831, he became a civil engineer with the

Columbia Railway The Columbia Railway was the third streetcar company to operate in Washington, D.C. It was incorporated and started operations in 1870, running from the Treasury Building along H Street NW/NE to the city boundary at 15th Street NE. It switched ...

. In 1835, under Strickland's direction, he drew one of the earliest maps of Maryland: a proposed route for the Wilmington and Susquehanna Railroad from Wilmington, Delaware, to North East, Maryland. In 1836, he became an engineer with the

Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad The Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad was a railroad from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Trenton, New Jersey. Opened in 1832, it became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system in 1871. The majority of it is now part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. ...

. From 1836 to 1842, he was an engineer with the Hiawassee Railway, which connected Georgia and Tennessee. In 1835, Trautwine designed Pennsylvania Hall, the first building erected for

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about ...

. A "temple-style edifice with four columns in the portico", it was, as of 1958, the only building he was known to have designed. In 1838, Trautwine once again worked under Strickland, as assistant engineer for the W&S, which had merged with three other railroads to create the first rail link from Philadelphia to Baltimore. (This main line survives today as part of

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...

.) His service is noted on the 1839

Newkirk Viaduct Monument The Newkirk Viaduct Monument (also, Newkirk Monument) is a white marble obelisk in the West Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was installed in 1839 to mark the completion of the Newkirk Viaduct, the first permanent rai ...

in Philadelphia. In 1844, Trautwine was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. He later executed surveys for the

Panama Railway The Panama Canal Railway (PCR, ) is a railway line linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in Central America. The route stretches across the Isthmus of Panama from Colón (Atlantic) to Balboa (Pacific, near Panama City). Because of ...

in 1850, for the Lackawanna and Lanesborough Railway in Susquehanna County, Pa., in 1856, and for a railway route across

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

in 1857. With

George M. Totten George Muirson Totten (1808-1884) was a civil engineer who built several important canals and railroads, including the Canal del Dique, which joined the Magdalena River to the harbor at Cartagena, Colombia, Cartagena. He was also the chief enginee ...

, he built the

Canal del Dique The Canal del Dique ( Levee Channel) is a 118 km artificial canal connecting Cartagena Bay (at the corregimiento of Pasacaballos) to the Magdalena River in the Bolívar Department in northern Colombia. The canal is a bifurcation or artifici ...

between the Bay of Cartagena and the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River (, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, ...

in Colombia. He also planned a system of docks for the city of Montreal.

Writings

Trautwine wrote several engineering texts that became standards in the field. His ''Civil Engineer's Pocket Book'' was long known as the "engineer's bible"; it passed through many editions under the later editorship of John Cresson Trautwine, Jr. and J.C. Trautwine 3rd. Three of Trautwine's books were among the 16 recommended for students in

George Vose George Vose (4 October 1912 – 20 June 1981) was an English footballer and coach who played as a halfback. He played for Manchester United in the Football League, also representing Stalybridge Celtic, Altrincham and Runcorn Runcorn is a ...

's 1872 classic ''Manual for Railroad Engineers and Engineering Students'': *
Method of Calculating the Cubic Contents of Excavations and Embankments
' (1851) *
Field Practice for Laying out Circular Curves for Railroads
' (1851) * ''Civil Engineer's Pocket-book'', 1871
1904 edition
prepared by J. C. Trautwine III)

References

Sources: ''Huntingfield Map Collection'', Maryland State Archive

External links

*
Bio at Philadelphia Buildings
* https://web.archive.org/web/20050221065816/http://www.picturehistory.com/find/p/20642/g/1/mcms.html (photo) *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trautwine, John Architects from Philadelphia 1810 births 1883 deaths American civil engineers American engineering writers 19th-century American architects Engineers from Pennsylvania Members of the American Philosophical Society