Rufus G. Russell (1823-1896) was an

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 ...

working from

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 ...

Life and career

Rufus Gustavus Russell was born September 5, 1823, in what is now

Prospect, Connecticut Prospect is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. It is a suburb of the nearby city of Waterbury to its north, and is on the north-eastern fringes of the New York metropolitan area. The population was estimated to be 9,401 in 20 ...

. George Dudley Seymour, ''New Haven'' (New Haven: George Dudley Seymour, 1942) As a young man he moved to New Haven, where he worked for many years for Henry Austin, the city's leading architect. In 1862, Russell left Austin and established his own practice."R. G. Russell," in ''Leading Business Men of New Haven County; and a Historical Review of the Principal Cities'' (Boston: Mercantile Publishing Company, 1887) Russell was an independent practitioner until his death in 1896.

Personal life

Russell was elected to the Board of Aldermen of New Haven on two occasions and was at times also a member of the Common Council. He was active in temperance work and was a member of the

Sons of Temperance The Sons of Temperance was and is a brotherhood of men who promoted the temperance movement and Benefit society, mutual support. The organization was started in New York City in 1842. In the 1840s, it spread quickly across the United States and ...

. Russell was married and had two children who lived to adulthood."Rufus G. Russell," ''Inland Architect and News Record'' 28, no. 3 (October 1896): 28-29. He died August 3, 1896, in New Haven.

Legacy

Russell had an extensive practice. He "designed numerous buildings in New Haven: the Calvary Baptist Church (1871) on Chapel Street, the New Haven Gas Company (1872) on Crown Street, and the Humphrey School (1877) on Humphrey Street. In 1866 he designed the residence of Nicholas Countryman, one of New Haven's leading builders." He would become "one of the best-known architects in New Haven". He designed the David Lyman II House in 1863, a house which has been regarded as "one of the finest examples of the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an 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 of the 19th century ...

in the greater Middletown area." At least two buildings designed by Russell have been individually listed on the United States

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 ...

, and others contribute to listed historic districts.

Architectural works

* House for David Lyman II,

Middlefield, Connecticut Middlefield is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. The population was 4,217 at the 2020 census. The town includes the village of Rockfall in the northe ...

(1863–64, NRHP-listed 1986)Ruth A. Bedrosian and John Herzan
David Lyman II House NRHP Registration Form
(1986) * House for Nicholas Countryman,

(1866–67)Elizabeth Mills Brown, ''New Haven: A Guide to Architecture and Urban Design'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1976) * Remodeling of the Whitneyville Congregational Church,

Hamden, Connecticut Hamden is a New England town, town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant (Connecticut), Sleeping Giant". The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region, Connecti ...

(1866, NRHP-listed 1995) * Howard Avenue Congregational Church,

(1867, demolished) * First Congregational Church,

Wallingford, Connecticut Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, centrally located between New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford, and Boston and New York City. The town is part ...

(1868) * Universalist Church of North Salem (former),

North Salem, New York North Salem is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in the northeastern section of Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. The town, incorporated in 1788, is a suburb of New York ...

(1869–70) * Calvary Baptist Church,

(1871) * Davenport Congregational Church,

(1872)Colin M. Caplan, ''A Guide to Historic New Haven, Connecticut'' (Charleston: History Press, 2007) * New Haven Gas Light Company Building,

(1872, demolished) * Extensions of the New Haven Hospital,

(1872–73, demolished) * City Court Building,

(1873, demolished) * West Divinity Hall,

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

(1874, demolished) * Edwards Street School (former),

(1876) * All Souls Unitarian Church,

Washington, District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

(1877, demolished) * Humphrey Street School (former),

(1877) * Imperial Granum Building,

(1877, NRHP-listed 1986) * Institute Library,

(1877) * Universalist Church of Our Father,

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

(1879–80, demolished) * Garfield Memorial Church (former),

(1881–83) * Winchester Observatory (former),

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

(1882)Prospect Hill Historic District NRHP Registration Form (1979) * Warner Hall,

(1892) Private residences designed by Rufus G. Russell can be found in the Howard Avenue Historic District and the Prospect Hill Historic District of

New Haven 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 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

Gallery of architectural works

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Rufus G. Architects from Connecticut Architects from New Haven, Connecticut 1823 births 1896 deaths 19th-century American architects Sons of Temperance Temperance activists from Connecticut