Kenneth MacKenzie Murchison, Jr. (September 29, 1872 – December 15, 1938) was a prominent American Beaux-Arts and

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

architect.

Early life

He was born in Brooklyn, New York City in 1872. Murchison graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1894 and from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in

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, France, in 1900.

Career

Two years after graduating from the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

, he opened an office in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

where his first major commissions were for railroad stations for the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

company. Among the stations he designed are

Hoboken Terminal Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by eight NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, an NJ T ...

in New Jersey; the Lackawanna Terminal and the Lehigh Valley Terminal, both in Buffalo, New York; and Baltimore Pennsylvania Station. In New York, he was well known as one of the founders of the Beaux Arts Balls, elaborate costume parties benefiting architects who had fallen on hard times. He also was a founder of the Mendelsohn Glee Club. At the time of his death, he had started work on a new Dunes Club to replace the one destroyed a few months earlier.

Personal life

On April 5, 1902, Murchison married Aurelie de Mauriac. They lived in the

Beaux-Arts Apartments The Beaux-Arts Apartments are a pair of apartment towers on 307 and 310 East 44th Street in the Midtown Manhattan, East Midtown and Turtle Bay, Manhattan, Turtle Bay neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Raymond Hood and Kenn ...

, which he designed, at 310 E. 44th St. They were the parents of two daughters: * Katherine Murchison, who married Hays Browning. * Aurelie Murchison, who married Edouard de Wardener. Murchison died suddenly, at 11:45 p.m. on December 15, 1938, while at the

Interborough Rapid Transit Company The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT ...

's Grand Central–42nd Street station, as ''The New York Times'' reported.

Buildings

He also designed: * Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Station- Johnstown (Amtrak station) * Jamaica (LIRR station), Jamaica, New York. * Long Beach (LIRR station), Long Beach, New York. * The original Dunes Club, Narragansett, Rhode Island. (Only the gatehouse remains after the 1938 hurricane.) * Sands Point Bath Club, East Egg, LI (destroyed by fire in 1986) * Forest Hills Stadium,

West Side Tennis Club The West Side Tennis Club is a private tennis club located in Forest Hills, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. The club has 38 tennis courts in all four surfaces (clay court, Har-Tru, grass court and hardcourt), a junior ...

Forest Hills, Queens Forest Hills is a neighborhood in the central portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is adjacent to Corona to the north, Rego Park and Glendale to the west, Forest Park to the south, Kew Gardens to the southeast and Flushing ...

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 ...

* New Colonial Hotel, Nassau * First National Bank Building,

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...

* The Murchison Building, Wilmington, North Carolina * Co-op Apartments, 39 E. 79th St., New York. * The Tully House (Residence),

Mill Neck, New York Mill Neck is a village in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 1,054 at the time of the 2020 census. History Mill Neck incorporated as a village in 1925. ...

* Luola Chapel, built at Orton Plantation in Brunswick, North Carolina, in memory of his sister who died in 1916. He also added wings to the main house. * Summer Residences,

Narragansett, Rhode Island Narragansett is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 14,532 at the 2020 census. However, during the summer months the town's population more than doubles to near 34,000. The town of Narragansett occupie ...

* Primelles Building, Havana, Cuba (American Architect. Vol. 119, Part 1) * St. Elmo Hall, home to the St. Elmo Society, at 111 Grove Street at Yale University, today known as Rosenfeld Hall. * William A. Clark House (with Lord and Hewlett)

References

1872 births 1938 deaths Architects from New York City American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts American railway architects {{US-architect-19C-stub