John Rudolph Niernsee
John Rudolph Niernsee was an American architect. He served as the head architect for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Rudolph also largely contributed to the design and construction of the South Carolina State House located in Columbia, South Carolina. Along with his partner, James Crawford Neilson, Rudolph established the standard for professional design and construction of public works projects within Baltimore and across different states in the United States.
Early life
He was born as Johann Rudolph Niernsee in Vienna, capital city of the old Austrian Empire and immigrated to the United States in 1837, at age 22.Career
He apprenticed to Benjamin Henry Latrobe, II,, engineer and manager at the B. & O. and other railroads,. In 1847, with James Crawford Neilson,, he formed the Niernsee & Neilson architectural firm that largely served the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,.He is credited with having mentored Ephraim Francis Baldwin,, another well-known Maryland and Baltimore architect, who also designed buildings and stations for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
During the American Civil War, Niernsee served in the Confederate States Army as a Major.
Selected works
Works by Niernsee or by the firm are:- Grace Episcopal Park Avenue & West Monument Street, 1850–52 designed with Nielsen
- Emmanuel Episcopal Cathedral at Eager St, 1857, designed with Nielsen
- The Green Mount Cemetery hilltop chapel, on Greenmount Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland, which he designed with Nielsen, is a Gothic Revival work.
- Baltimore's Johns Hopkins Hospital at 500 Broadway, and the Johns Hopkins Colored Children Orphan Asylum.
- 1855–56: St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, Baltimore. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
- 1855: Saint Paul's Church, 102 North Union Street, Petersburg, Virginia, NRHP-listed.
- c. 1855, Villa Anneslie, 529 Dunkirk Road, Towson, Maryland, NRHP-listed.
- 1856-1865, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Camden Street Station, 301 West Camden Street, Baltimore, Maryland
- 1868: Aigburth Vale in Towson, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
- 1870: Churchville Presbyterian Church, Churchville, Maryland, listed on the NRHP in 1986.
- ca. 1870: Clifton Mansion for new owner Johns Hopkins, at Clifton Park, listed on the NRHP in 2007.
- The Greek Revival South Carolina State House, in Columbia, is another National Historic Landmark building which Niernsee designed, c. 1851, although full implementation was delayed. From 1888 to 1891, a time when much of the interior work was completed, it was in fact Niernsee's son, Frank McHenry Niernsee, who served as architect. NRHP-listed.<-- Grace Church, Baltimore Sun Paper March 12, 1852 pg1—unclear fragment -->
- The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Martinsburg Shops in Martinsburg, West Virginia, which he designed with engineer Albert Fink, were declared a National Historic Landmark in 2003.
- Church of the Most Holy Trinity, 720 Telfair Street, Augusta, Georgia, NRHP-listed
- St. Mary's Catholic Church located in the Edgefield Historic District, located along both sides of U.S. Route 25 through the town of Edgefield, South Carolina, NRHP-listed.
- Emmanuel Church, U.S. Route 301, Port Conway, Virginia., NRHP-listed/
- Martin's Brandon Church, Virginia Highways 10 and 1201, Burrowsville., NRHP-listed.
- Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church and Asbury House, 2–10 East Mount Vernon Place/East Monument Street, Baltimore,, NRHP-listed.