Peter Harrison (June 14, 1716 – April 30, 1775) was a colonial 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 ...

in New England who is credited with bringing the

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

architectural movement to the colonies.

Early life and education

Born in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, England, Harrison immigrated to the colony of

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

in 1740 with his brother Joseph Harrison. They initially established themselves as merchants and captains of their own trading vessels. Having gained a stake, between 1743 and 1745, Harrison returned to England to receive formal training as an architect. He studied under the direction of an English lord (it is not known which one), among those who trained architects through private studio-schools. They used architectural pattern books, taught drafting and coloring skills, and conducted grand tours of Italy and Greece, where students could see classical structures firsthand. They were taught to become expert draftsmen. These private studio-schools drew from the works of such masters such as the 16th-century Italian

Palladio Andrea Palladio ( , ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one ...

and the classical Roman

Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...

Career

Through his travels and education in Europe, Harrison acquired a substantial library of books related to classically inspired designs, and also had an opportunity to see the latest designs that were produced by architects of the

movement. When he returned to New England, where he first settled in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

, he brought Palladianism with him. He designed notable buildings in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and influenced many more. Peter Harrison is now credited as the first professionally trained architect in America in the Palladian style. His known works in the British-American colonies are considered to be of the highest quality and the finest examples of Palladianism in his time.

Works

More than 400 buildings in Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia have been attributed to Harrison, though only a few are supported with documentary evidence. Those listed here are his documented projects as identified by historian John Fitzhugh Millar in 2014. * Steeple, Christ Church, Philadelphia, PA (1745) * Fort George I, Goat Island, Newport, RI (1745, demolished) * Leamington Farm, Newport, RI (1747, altered) * Matthew Cozzens House, Middletown, RI (1748, demolished 1949) * Redwood Library, Newport, RI (1748–49) *

Beavertail Lighthouse Beavertail Lighthouse was built in 1856 and is the premier lighthouse in Rhode Island, marking the entrance to Narragansett Bay. The lighthouse lies on the southernmost point of Conanicut Island in the town of Jamestown, Rhode Island in Beaverta ...

I, Jamestown, RI, (1749, burned) *

King's Chapel King's Chapel is an American independent Christian unitarian congregation affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association that is "unitarian Christian in theology, Anglican in worship, and congregational in governance." It is housed in ...

, Boston, MA (1749) * John Still Winthrop House, New London, CT (1754, demolished) *

II, Jamestown, RI, (1755, destroyed) *

Touro Synagogue The Touro Synagogue is a synagogue built in 1763 in Newport, Rhode Island. The building has been occupied by several different congregations over the years. The current occupant is known as Congregation Ahavath Israel (). As the only surviving s ...

, Newport, RI (1759) * Christ Church, Cambridge MA (1759–60) * Saint John’s Freemasons Hall, Newport, RI (1759) * Steeple and enlargement, Trinity Church, Newport, RI (1762) * Old Brick Market, Newport, RI (1762–72) * Saint Paul’s Chapel,

New York, NY New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

(1766, recent identification) * Old Dartmouth Hall,

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

Hanover, NH Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of E ...

(1769, burned 1904, reconstructed) * Governor John Wentworth County House, Wolfeborough, NH (1769, demolished) * Trinity Church, Brooklyn, CT (1771) Elizabeth Pelham Harrison

Later life

Harrison married Elizabeth Pelham and later settled in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

. He was dedicated to

Toryism A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The T ...

and English culture. He died of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

at his home in New Haven in 1775. He is buried in an unmarked grave at the

New Haven Green The New Haven Green is a privately owned park and recreation area located in the downtown New Haven, downtown district of the city of New Haven, Connecticut, United States. It comprises the central square of the nine-square settlement plan of t ...

. Soon after his death in 1775, his home was attacked by a mob of revolutionaries. They burned his library and all of his original drawings. This act of political violence destroyed the collection of one of the most erudite architects of the colonial period. It prevented the preparation of a catalogue of his designs for posterity.

Gallery

File:VIEW OF EXTERIOR FROM SE - Christ Church, 22-26 North Second Street, Philadelphia, HABS PA,51-PHILA,7-37 (steeple).jpg, Steeple, Christ Church (1745), Philadelphia File:Boston - King's Chapel (48718908106).jpg,

(1749), Boston File:Redwood Library and Athenaeum - Newport, RI (51487895396).jpg,

Redwood Library and Athenaeum The Redwood Library and Athenaeum is a subscription library, museum, rare book repository and research center founded in 1747, and located at 50 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. The building, designed by Peter Harrison and completed ...

(1750), Newport File:CambridgeMA ChristChurch.jpg, Christ Church (1759), Cambridge File:Francis Malbone House, Thames Street, Newport Rhode Island.jpg, Francis Malbone House (1760), Newport File:Old Brick Market, Newport.jpg, Brick Market Building (1762), Newport File:Trinity Church Newport RI 2006.jpg, Steeple, Trinity Church, Newport (1762) File:Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island.jpg,

(1763), Newport File:St. Paul's Chapel - NYC (51522449420).jpg, Saint Paul’s Chapel, New York (1766) File:Dartmouth Hall - Dartmouth College - DSC01608.jpg, Old Dartmouth Hall,

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

(1769) File:Trinity Church, Brooklyn, CT, corner view 2004.jpg, Trinity Church (1771), Brooklyn, CT

References

External links

from a Digital Archive of American Architecture
* https://www.flickr.com/photos/herzogbr/3714177960/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Peter 1716 births 1775 deaths Architects from York Architects from Newport, Rhode Island People from colonial Rhode Island Loyalists in the American Revolution from Connecticut English emigrants to the United States