Samuel Breck Parkman Trowbridge Born: May 20, 1862, New York City, New York Died: 1925, New York City, New York Parents: William
Petit Trowbridge I & Lucy Parkman Occupation: architect
Samuel Beck Parkman Trowbridge
(1862-1925) was born in New York City, son of William Petit and Lucy Parkman
Trowbridge. At the time of his birth, Trowbridge's father, whose initial career
was in the military, was the superintending engineer of the construction of Fort
Totten Battery, repairs to Fort Schuyler, and work at Governor's Island. The
work was being done to fortify the city against possible attack during the Civil
War. After the War, he left the military and eventually became professor of
dynamic engineering at Yale. From 1877 until his death in 1892, he was professor
of engineering at the Columbia School of Mines. Undoubtedly, the younger
Trowbridge was influenced in his choice of career by his father's profession.
After his early education in the city's public schools, Trowbridge did his
undergraduate studies at Trinity College in Hartford. On graduating in 1883, he
entered Columbia's School of Mines, and later furthered his training at the
American School of Classical Studies in Athens and at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts
in Paris. On his return to New York, he entered the office of George B. Post. In
18914, he, Goodhue Livingston and Stockton B. Colt formed a partnership that
lasted until 1897 when Colt left and the firm became Trowbridge & Livingston.
The firm is best known for its public and commercial buildings, which, besides
B. Altman, include the St. Regis Hotel (1904) at Fifth Avenue and 55th Street;
Engine Company 7, Ladder Company 1 (1905) at 100 Duane Street; the banking
headquarters of J.P. Morgan (1913) at 23 Wall Street; the 1923 extension to the
New York Stock Exchange at 11 Wall Street; the Oregon State Capitol (1936-38),
designed in association with Francis Keally; and the Hayden Planetarium (1935)
of the American Museum of Natural History at West 81st Street and Central Park
West.
