Benjamin Henry Latrobe: The Man Who Built America, Above & Below Most know Benjamin Henry Latrobe as America’s first professional architect, and the designer of the US Capitol. What many do not know is that among his several architectural achievements, this man also developed a fresh water system in early urban areas from Philadelphia to New Orleans. Biography/Background: Latrobe was born May 1, 1764, near Leeds, England. He attended Moravian schools as a child and later went on to be educated in England and Germany. In school he became fluent in many languages and familiarized himself with the classical arts. In 1783, Latrobe traveled around France and Germany, where he found himself fascinated by the use of classical architecture. Latrobe studied engineering under the well-known English civil engineer, John Smeaton in 1787. Pursuing his interest in architecture, he …show more content…
For a short period of time Latrobe worked for Fulton’s steamship company in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Fulton commented on Latrobe’s success, “his genius is for works of a higher order, but he has the happy faculty of accommodating it to anything useful.” (Asme.org “Benjamin Henry Latrobe: Biography”) The Capitol was burned down by the British on August 24, 1814, a tragedy that called for Latrobe to reconstruct the North Wing, he returned to Washington in 1815 to do so. Latrobe made repairs to the damaged capitol as well as introduced new interior designs, but as cost issues arose and construction delays grew, Latrobe was forced to resign from this position in November of 1817. (“Explore Capitol Hill”) His designs regarding the Capitol weren’t Latrobe’s only contribution to Washington D.C. During his time in Washington, Latrobe contributed to multiple other monumental landmarks, which includes, but is not limited to, the White House and the Navy