Robert Campbell Dixon

Last updated
Robert Campbell Dixon Jr.
BornMay 15, 1857
DiedDecember 22, 1933
Weehawken, New Jersey
Alma mater Eastman Business College
Occupation Architect
Employer(s)D. & J. Jardine, J.C. Cady & Co, French, Dixon & DeSaldern, French & Dixon
Organization(s)Columbia Club (Hoboken), Palma Club, New Jersey Society of Architects, American Institute of Architects
SpouseSadie Gardner Morgan (m. 1886)
Children(2) Robert Kenneth Dixon, Lola Symth Dixon
Parents
  • Robert Dixon (father)
  • Margaret Campbell (mother)

Robert Campbell Dixon Jr. was a prominent architect around the turn of the 20th century, who contributed to many of the notable public buildings in and around New York City and Hudson County, New Jersey. Dixon, Frequently referred to as R. C. Dixon in historical documents, is understood to not be the same Robert Dixon that designed many of Brooklyn Heights' characteristic Brownstone homes c.1890. In 1898 R.C. Dixon was listed as being in Union Hill, NJ whereas Robert Dixon was listed as operating from 213 Montague Street, in Brooklyn.

Contents

Early life

Robert Campbell Dixon was born May 15, 1857, in New York City to Robert Dixon and Margaret (Campbell) Dixon. [1] His father was born in Nicholdorest, Cumberland, England, and his mother in Perthshire, Scotland. His ancestors were involved in East India service, and others in English Parliament and the Church of England. [1] Robert Dixon attended public school in Poughkeepsie New York before attending private schools. [1] [2] He attended River View Military Academy and went on to take business courses at Eastman Business College in Poughkeepsie.

Career

Dixon started his career in 1876 as a student in the office of architects D. & J. Jardine in New York City, working with them for just over four years. [1] In 1883 Dixon went into business on his own. From 1885 to 1888, Dixon and Arthur DeSaldern were in partnership with New York architect Thomas Stent. [3] In 1889, Dixon and DeSaldern went into partnership with Charles Abbott French to form the firm French, Dixon & DeSaldern which operated from 1889 to approximately 1893 and built many well known buildings in and around Hudson County. [4] From 1894 to 1896, Dixon practiced under the firm French & Dixon. [5]

In addition to his career as an architect, Dixon was a member of several professional firms. An organizer of the New Jersey Society of Architects, and a member of the American Institute of Architects. [1] [2] He was also a member of the New Jersey Chapter of Architects. [1] Records indicate that he also had a relationship with several other prominent New Jersey Architects including Charles P Baldwin, Herman Kreitler, Thomas Cressey, George W. Von Arx, Albert Beyer, Hugh Roberts, and father-son architecture duo John H. Ely and Wilson C. Ely, designers of many prominent Essex County Buildings. [6]

Personal life

Dixon was married September 22, 1886, to Sadie Gardner Morgan, the only daughter of James G. Morgan of Union Hill, NJ. [1] [2] They had two children, Robert Kenneth, a business man in New York City and Lola Smyth, who married into the Denzer Family. [2] From approximately 1907 until his death, Dixon resided in the Highwood Park section of Weehawken, known for its large stately homes, many of which Dixon designed himself.

In addition to professional organizations, Dixon was a member of many social clubs and community organizations. He had served as a delegate to local and state democratic conventions, was the President of the Board of Education of Union Hill, member of the Columbia Club of Hoboken, the Palma Club of Jersey City, a member of the Grace Episcopal Church of Union Hill, and the Columbia Lodge No. 151 Knights of Pythias. [1] [2]

Buildings

Dixon has either lead or contributed to the design of many prominent buildings in and around New York City, many of which are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Prominent buildings by Robert Campbell Dixon Jr.
BuildingBuiltStateCityAs firm
The Palma Club Buildingunknown NJ Jersey City unknown
Engine Company No. 2 1890 NJ Hoboken French, Dixon & DeSaldern
First Baptist Church 1890NJ Hoboken French, Dixon & DeSaldern
The Columbia Club1891 NJ Hoboken French, Dixon & DeSaldern
Town HallunknownNJ Union Hill unknown
"Lincoln" 347 W 44th Street [7] 1892 NY Manhattan French, Dixon & DeSaldern
"Raymond" 349 W 44th Street [7] 1892NY Manhattan French, Dixon & DeSaldern
351 W 44th Street [7] 1892NY Manhattan French, Dixon & DeSaldern
"Washington" 358 W 45th Street [7] 1892NY Manhattan French, Dixon & DeSaldern
"Columbia" 360 W 45th Street [7] 1892NY Manhattan French, Dixon & DeSaldern

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Burnham</span> American architect and urban designer (1846– 1912)

Daniel Hudson Burnham was an American architect and urban designer. A proponent of the Beaux-Arts movement, he may have been, "the most successful power broker the American architectural profession has ever produced."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hudson County, New Jersey</span> County in New Jersey, United States

Hudson County is the smallest and most densely populated county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in the New York metropolitan area, the county seat is Jersey City, which is the county's largest city in terms of both population and area, with a 2020 population of 292,449, and which covered 21.08 square miles (54.6 km2). Since 1990, Hudson County has been one of New Jersey's two fastest-growing counties, along with Ocean County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Upjohn</span> British-born American architect

Richard Upjohn was a British-born American architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches. He was partially responsible for launching the movement to popularity in the United States. Upjohn also did extensive work in and helped to popularize the Italianate style. He was a founder and the first president of the American Institute of Architects. His son, Richard Michell Upjohn, (1828-1903), was also a well-known architect and served as a partner in his continued architectural firm in New York.

George Browne Post was an American architect trained in the Beaux-Arts tradition. He was recognized as a master of modern American architecture as well as being instrumental in the birth of the skyscraper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrère and Hastings</span>

Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings, was one of the outstanding American Beaux-Arts architecture firms. Located in New York City, the firm practiced from 1885 until 1929, although Carrère died in an automobile accident in 1911.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Detlef Lienau</span> German architect

Detlef Lienau was a German architect born in Holstein. He is credited with having introduced the French style to American building construction, notably the mansard roof and all its decorative flourishes. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, he designed virtually every type of Victorian structure—cottages, mansions, townhouses, apartment houses, hotels, tenements, banks, stores, churches, schools, libraries, offices, factories, railroad stations, and a museum. Lienau was recognized by clients and colleagues alike as one of the most creative and technically proficient architects of the period, and was one of the 29 founding members of the American Institute of Architects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Hudson, New Jersey</span>

North Hudson is the area in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, situated on the west bank of the Hudson River, mostly atop the Hudson Palisades. It comprises Weehawken, Union City, West New York, Guttenberg, and North Bergen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Hoboken, New Jersey</span> Place in New Jersey, United States

West Hoboken was a municipality that existed in Hudson County, New Jersey, from 1861 to 1925. It merged with Union Hill to form Union City on June 1, 1925.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cox Stevens</span>

John Cox Stevens is best known for founding and serving as the first Commodore of the New York Yacht Club as well as being a member of the America syndicate which, in 1851, won the trophy that would become the America's Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Poughkeepsie YMCA</span> United States historic place

The Old Poughkeepsie YMCA is on the west side of Market Street near the corner of Church Street in Poughkeepsie in New York, United States, across from the former New York State Armory. One of many historic early 20th-century institutional buildings on Market Street, the city's main downtown thoroughfare, it has a glazed terra-cotta front facade, the only building in Poughkeepsie using that material.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Clarke Withers</span> American architect

Frederick Clarke Withers was an English architect in America, especially renowned for his Gothic Revival ecclesiastical designs. For portions of his professional career, he partnered with fellow immigrant Calvert Vaux; both worked in the office of Andrew Jackson Downing in Newburgh, New York, where they began their careers following Downing's accidental death. Withers greatly participated in the introduction of the High Victorian Gothic style to the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank L. Bodine</span> American architect

Frank Lee Bodine was an American architect who practiced in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and in Orlando, Florida, in the first four decades of the twentieth century.

Robert Siegel Architects is a New York City-based architecture firm that designs new buildings, renovations and interiors for a wide range of clients and programs. Their public, academic, cultural, commercial and residential projects are located throughout the United States, Korea, China, and Japan. The firms has a won 30 design awards and has appeared in over 50 publications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area</span> Metropolitan statistical area in New York, United States

The Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties in New York's Hudson Valley, with the cities of Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, and Middletown as its principal cities. As of the 2020 census, the MSA had a population of 679,221 The area was centered on the urban area of Poughkeepsie-Newburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Beacon (Jersey City)</span> United States historic place

The Beacon is a mixed-use development located on a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site on Bergen Hill, a crest of the Hudson Palisades and one of the highest geographical points in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The Beacon, which occupies the Jersey City Medical Center's rehabilitated original complex, creates the northeastern corner of the Bergen Lafayette Section and is just east of McGinley Square. The Beacon includes 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m2) of residential and retail space, approximately 1,200 luxury residences and 80,000 square feet (7,400 m2) of retail space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monastery and Church of Saint Michael the Archangel</span> Historic church in Union City, New Jersey, United States

The Monastery and Church of Saint Michael the Archangel, known locally as Saint Michael's Monastery Church, is a state and national historic place in Union City, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Formally opened in 1869 and completed in 1875, the grounds of the complex are bounded West Street and Summit Avenue between 18th and 21st Streets. The small street leading to its front entrance from the east is called Monastery Place. At one time the largest Roman Catholic church in Hudson County, it has since become home to a Presbyterian congregation while part of the grounds are used for housing and education. At one time its walls were adorned by artwork by Hildreth Meière, until rain damage prompted their removal from public view.

Samuel Juster, AIA, was an American architect who practiced during the mid-20th century in New York City and New Jersey.

Egerton Swartwout was an American architect, most notably associated with his New York architectural firm Tracy and Swartwout and McKim, Mead & White. His buildings, numbering over 100, were typically in the Beaux-Arts style. Six of his buildings are recognized on the National Register of Historic Places, and three others have been given landmark status by their city commissions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Alling Gifford</span> American architect

Charles Alling Gifford was an American architect and a partner in the New York City firm of Gifford & Bates. He is best remembered for his resort hotels, but also designed houses, churches, and five armories for the New Jersey National Guard.

French, Dixon & DeSaldern was a prominent New York architectural firm that operated from 1890 to 1893 that designed many historically significant public buildings in New York and New Jersey, as well as several remote parts of the country. In 1877 Charles Abbot French began an architectural firm, named Chas A. French & Co, practicing at 200 W. 57th Street in Manhattan. Later, he merged with the Firm Dixon & DeSaldern of 17 Broadway, admitting Robert Campbell Dixon junior and Arthur De Saldern as partners to the firm in 1889, after Dixon and DeSaldern split with Thomas Stent in 1888. All three partners were natives of New York state. The firm French, Dixon & DeSaldern had offices located in The Rutland Building on 57th and Broadway, a well known building which their firm designed. The Rutland hotel was at the 256 W 57th Street, which is now the site of the Fisk Tire Building.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Harvey, Cornelius Burnham, ed. (1900). Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey. New York: The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company. pp. 136–137.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Feldra, Robert (1917). History of Hudson County: Genealogies of prominent families. Town of Union, NJ: Michel & Rank Publishers. pp. 52–53. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  3. Directory of British Architects. Vol. 2 (L-Z). A&C Black. 2001. ISBN   082645514X.
  4. History and Commerce of New York - 1891 (2nd ed.). New York: American Publishing And Engraving Co. 1891. p. 174.
  5. "Landmarks Preservation Commission - NEW-YORK CAB COMPANY STABLE 318-330 Amsterdam Avenue, aka 201-205 West 75th Street, Borough of Manhattan" (PDF). Landmarks Preservation Commission. November 14, 2006. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  6. Brown, Glenn (1908). Quarterly Bulletin Containing an Index of Literature From the Publications of Architectural Societies and Periodicals on Architecture and Allied Subjects from January 1, 1908 to April 1, 1908. The Octagon, Washington DC. p. 203.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Chapter 9: Architectural Historic Resources". No. 7 Subway Extension—Hudson Yards Rezoning and Development Program Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement (PDF) (Report). Empire State Development. pp. 9–37. Retrieved April 23, 2020.