[Main Building, Girard College] [graphic] / John C. Trautwine, archt. & engineer.

Format:

Image

Author/Creator:

Trautwine, John C. (John Cresson), 1810-1883.

Contributor:

Visual Materials Collection (Athenaeum of Philadelphia)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

colleges (building complexes)--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.

Girard & Corinthian Ave. (Philadelphia, Pa.).

Girard College (Philadelphia, Pa.)--Competition drawings--1832.

Local Subjects:

Girard & Corinthian Ave. (Philadelphia, Pa.).

Girard College (Philadelphia, Pa.)--Competition drawings--1832.

Penn Provenance:

Athenaeum purchase,

Physical Description:

2 drawings : ink & watercolor on paper ; 31.5 x 43 cm.

Place of Publication:

n.d.

Notes:

Title devised from Laverty Girard College catalog.

Wealthy tradesman Stephen Girard (1750-1831) left 2 million dollars upon his death, to the City of Philadelphia, for the construction of an educational institution for orphans, which was to become known as Girard College. In 1832 a competition was conducted, in which many of the leading architect's of the day participated. Thomas Ustick Walter, who was later to become architect of the U.S. Capitol, was selected, from a field of competition which included Towne, Davis & Co., William Strickland, John Haviland, and numerous others. John Cresson Trautwine was born in Philadelphia and studied with Strickland. He was just beginning to design buildings of his own around the time of the 1832 competition. He is known to have been an unsuccessful participant in several Philadelphia building competitions including Wills Hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital and Preston Retreat, and with the identification of the drawings described here, Girard College. He appears to have made a successful career as an engineer, working in association with railroad construction in the U.S. and abroad.

Inscription on "N. & S. fronts" elevation drawing reads "The columns may easily be dispensed with if thought at variance with the will". The front will then present very much the same character as the flank. Measurements under the image give the short elevation at 114 ft. and the longer flank elevation as 160 ft.

Laverty (1994) has included these drawings in his Girard College architectural drawings : catalog, based upon Trautwine's reference to a will, and from the building measurements, which correspond to those specified by Stephen Girard in his Will. From the Will, XII. "It shall be at least one hundred and ten feet east and west, and one hundred sixty feet north & south ... It shall be three stories in height, each story at least fifteen feet high in the clear from the floor to the cornice ... there shall be a cellar window under and in line with each window in the first story ...".