Austin, Henry, 1804-1891

Henry Austin (1804-1891) was a New Haven architect whose works include the New Haven City Hall at 161 Church Street and the Egyptian Revival Entrance Gate at the New Haven Burial Ground at Grove Street, as well as a number of private residences.

Henry Austin worked as a carpenter and then in the office of architect Ithiel Town in New Haven. Austin opened his own office in New Haven in 1836. Buildings designed by Austin in New Haven include the now demolished railroad station, the City Hall, a library for Yale College, and the gateway to Grove Street Cemetery.

Henry Austin worked as a carpenter and then in the office of architect Ithiel Town in New Haven. Austin opened his own office in New Haven in 1836. Buildings designed by Austin in New Haven include the now demolished railroad station, the City Hall, a library for Yale College, and the gateway to Grove Street Cemetery.

Henry Austin, son of Daniel and Adah (Dorman) Austin, was born on December 4, 1804 in Mt. Carmel, Connecticut. By the time he was fifteen, Austin was employed as a carpenter. He worked for Ithiel Town, who had opened an office for the practice of architecture in New Haven about 1810. Austin was able to avail himself of Town's fine architectural library in order to further his training in architecture.

In 1836, Austin opened an office of his own. In 1842 he was commissioned to design a library for Yale College, modeled after King's College Chapel at Cambridge, England. In designing this building, Austin was assisted by Henry Flockton, an Englishman then employed in his office. Another notable design of Austin's was the massive brown-stone gateway (1845-1848), in the Egyptian style, of the historic Grove Street Cemetery, New Haven. In 1861 Austin was commissioned to design a City Hall for New Haven, in which he was assisted by David Russell Brown of his office. This building is in the Italian Gothic style. Among Austin's other New Haven buildings were the old Railway Station at the intersection of Union and Chapel Streets; the old New Haven House; the Cutler and Hoadley Buildings; the Yale, Tradesmen's Mechanics, and New Haven Savings Banks; Eaton School; and Trinity Church Home. He built so many private residences that it was said that almost every street in New Haven bore marks of his taste. Most of these were in the then fashionable so-called Tuscan or Italian style. Austin also built many churches throughout the state and elsewhere and designed the monument erected in 1846 in Coventry, Connecticut, to the memory of Nathan Hale.

Many men trained in Austin's office in the fifty-five years of his professional life, and he was known locally as the "Father of Architects." Austin died on December 17, 1891.

Based on: Dictionary of American Bioqraphy . New York, 1943. pp. 432-433