8th Grade Webpage

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absoluteastronomy.com / c250.colombia.edu
        The architect of St. Patrick's cathedral is James Renwick. He was born on November 1, 1818 in New York to a wealthy and well-educated family. Renwick studied engineering at Columbia University at age twelve. He never formally studied architecture but learned the skills from his father. His first building was Grace Church in New York. He designed it in 1843. In 1846, he began designs for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. Later he designed more buildings such as Vassar College's Main Hall, many churches, the New York Public Library, many mansions for the rich people of New York, banks, hospitals, asylums and the former facade of the New York Stoke Exchange. 
          Though Renwick disigned many, many buildings, his most famous is Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York, New York. He began work on the cathedral in 1858 and completed 21 years later. The reasson it took so long to build is because the construction was interrupted by the Civil War. The cathedral was finished in 1879, but there have been many renovations since then.