James Knox Taylor

James Knox Taylor (1857-1929) was Supervising Architect of the United States Treasury Department from 1897 to 1912 and as such his name is listed as architect of hundreds of federal office buildings and post offices built throughout the United States in large and small cities during the period.

Early career

Taylor was born in Knoxville, Illinois and attended schools in Minnesota. He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was a classmate of William Martin Aiken who would precede him in Supervisory Architect position and Cass Gilbert. After graduation he worked in the New York City of Charles C. Haight and later with Bruce Price. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=hjDZz87NF8AC&pg=PA197&dq=%22James+Knox+Taylor%22&sig=ACfU3U0hwyx1_8a6mNHwqC5a6zzs34_E6w#PPA197,M1 Architects to the Nation: The Rise and Decline of the Supervising Architect's Office by Antoinette J. Lee - Oxford University Press, USA (April 20, 2000)] ISBN 0195128222]

In 1882 he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota where he formed a partnership with Gilbert called Gilbert & Taylor. They built many homes and churches. Subsequently they designed the Pioneer and Endicott Buildings.

In 1893 he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and formed a partnership with Amos J. Boyden. In 1895 he got a job with the Supervisory Architect as a temporary draftsman. In 1897 he became the Supervisory Architect -- the first architect promoted from within.

Tarsney Act

In 1893 Missouri Congressman John Charles Tarsney introduced a bill that allowed the Supervisory Architect to have competitions among private architects for major structures. Competitions under Taylor's supervision included the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, James Farley Post Office, Cleveland Federal Building, U.S. Post Office and Courthouse (Baltimore, Maryland) and U.S. Customhouse (San Francisco, California) (which are all now on the National Register of Historic Places) among others. The competitions were met with enthusiasm by the architect community but were also marred by scandal as when Taylor picked Cass Gilbert for the New York Customs job. Taylor and Gilbert had been members of the Gilbert & Taylor architecture firm in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1913 the act was repealed. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=hjDZz87NF8AC&pg=PA197&dq=%22James+Knox+Taylor%22&sig=ACfU3U0hwyx1_8a6mNHwqC5a6zzs34_E6w#PPA197,M1 Architects to the Nation: The Rise and Decline of the Supervising Architect's Office by Antoinette J. Lee - Oxford University Press, USA (April 20, 2000)] ISBN 0195128222]

elected works

Major

*Alaska Governor's Mansion
*Denver Mint
*Philadelphia Mint

Courthouses and Post Offices

*Old Post Office (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
*U.S. Post Office (Belvidere, Illinois)
*Gainesville, Florida Post Office
*Athens, Ohio Government Buildings
*U.S. Courthouse Building and Downtown Postal Station (Tampa, Florida)
*Tuttle Court Building, Atlanta, Georgia

References