Thomas R. Jackson

Thomas R. Jackson (1826–1901) was an English-born American architect who rose to the position of head draftsman in the office of Richard Upjohn (1802–1872), one of New York's most prominent designers; in his position in Upjohn's office he was one of the designers in the construction of Trinity Church, New York.^[1] The nature of his other work with Jackson is not known. The comparatively unknown^[2] Jackson was a prolific architect in his own right.

Jackson emigrated as a child to the United States with his parents.

His five-story building constructed for the New York Times at 41 Park Row, 1851 (or 1857–1858),^[3] was the first purpose-designed structure for a New York newspaper. His Italianate Grammar School 47, East 12th Street, (1855) was one of the first American public schools designed expressly for girls.^[4]

Jackson's Brooklyn Theater, Brooklyn, was considered one of the safest, most fireproof buildings, until it burned in December 1876.^[5] His Academy of Music in Albany had burned in 1868, whereupon he was commissioned to design its replacement, the Trimble Opera House.^[6]

In 1888 plans and specifications for the buildings and the track for the Morris Park Racetrack were prepared by Jackson, personally approved in detail by John Morris, the entrepreneur of what became the most lavishly appointed racecourse in America.^[7]

Among the architects who trained in Jackson's practice was Isaac G. Perry.

Selected further commissions

• St Paul's Church, Morrisania (The Bronx), 1850.^[8]
• Wallack's Theatre, 728 Broadway at 13th Street, 1861.^[9]
• Warehouse, Washington and Vestry Streets, 1882. Interior rebuilt as part of Hudson Hotel and Conference Center.^[10]
• New York Mercantile Exchange, 6 Harrison Street, 1886. Converted to condominiums.
• Castree Building, Hudson Street, New York, 1891.
• James Pyle Sons Warehouse, Washington and Charlton Streets, New York, 1895.^[11]

Notes

1. New York Times, 15 December 1876.
2. He was included among the group of English architects of his generation who emigrated to William Barksdale Maynard, America in Architecture in the United States, 1800-1850, "The role of Britain and the Pictureseque" 2002:52
3. Sarah Bradford Landau, Carl W. Condit, Rise of the New York Skyscraper: 1865-1913. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996). p. 51. ISBN 978-0-300-06444-5
4. It was acquired by the New York Police Department in 1958 and houses the Police Athletic League (Guide to New York City Landmarks 3rd ed. 2003:62.)
5. (New York Times) "The Coroner's inquest: testimony of Thomas R. Jackson, the architect of the theater", 15 December 1876.
6. Henry Pitt Phelps, Players of a Century:A Record of the Albany Stage 1880:377f.
7. Nicholas Di Brino, The History of the Morris Park Racecourse and the Morris Family (Bronx Historical Society), 1977
8. Robert Bolton, History of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the County of Westchester 1855:719-21 (woodcut illus.)
9. Landmarks Preservation Commission March 18, 2008, Designation List (pdf file). Other sources differ on the street number; see the section "844 Broadway at 13th Street," on the page Wallack's Theatre.
10. (Real Estate Weekly, "Tribeca warehouse to be part of new Hudson center hotel", April 12, 1995.
11. (New York Times) "A new eighth ward landmark", April 7, 1895