Alexander Rice Esty (also known as Alexander Rice Estey) (18 October 1826 – 2 July 1881) was an American architect known for designing many Gothic Revival churches in New England. His work also encompassed university buildings, public buildings, office buildings, and private residences across the Northeastern United States.
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Biography
Esty was born in Framingham, Massachusetts, the youngest child of Dexter Esty (1791–1860), a local builder, and Mary Eames Esty (née Rice, 1787–1849). He was the brother of U.S. Representative Constantine C. Esty. Esty was a descendant of Edmund Rice, an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony, and a direct descendant of Mary Towne Esty, who was executed during the Salem Witch Trials.
Esty attended Framingham Academy as a boy. He then trained in architecture with Boston architect Richard Bond. He remained a resident of Framingham for his entire life.
Esty married three times:
in 1854, Julia Maria Wight (1835–1862) daughter of Julia Maria Terry and Lothrop Wight (a wealthy Boston merchant)
in 1865, Charlotte Louise Blake (1840–1866)
in 1867, Emma Corning Newell (1845–1886) daughter of Olive Plimpton and George Newell (a sea captain)
In 1847, Esty worked for architect Gridley J. F. Bryant before opening his own Boston office the following year. Many of Esty's churches were variations of a popular nineteenth-century style similar to Richard Upjohn's. In addition to his church designs, Esty designed numerous university, public, and office buildings. He also proposed a design for the Library of Congress building in Washington, D.C.
Esty received an honorary Master of Arts degree in 1866 from the University of Rochester.
From 1876 until his death, Esty was employed by the United States Treasury as Superintendent of Construction to the first United States Post Office and Sub-Treasury Building in Boston's Post Office Square.
Esty died in 1881, aged 54.
Works listed in the National Register of Historic Places
Massachusetts
Prospect Congregational Church (Christ the King Church), 1851, Cambridge
Paul Gibbs House, 1860, Framingham
Moses Ellis House, 1866, Framingham
Old Cambridge Baptist Church, 1869, Cambridge
St. John's Episcopal Church, 1871, Framingham
Concord Square Historic District, Framingham
Elsewhere
First Methodist Church of Burlington, 1869, Burlington, Vermont
Other works
Massachusetts
State Normal School Building, 1853, Framingham
Park Street Baptist Church, 1854, Framingham
Cornerstone Baptist Church, 1854, Framingham †
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 1861, Boston
St. Mark's Church, 1863, Southborough
St. John's Episcopal Church, 1864, Gloucester
Colby Hall at Andover Newton Theological School, 1865, Newton
Church of Our Saviour, 1868, Brookline
Newton Free Library, 1870, Newton
Baptist Church, 1870, North Billerica
Clinton Town Hall, 1872, Clinton
Union United Methodist Church, 1872, Boston
Grace Episcopal Church, 1872, Newton
Monks Building, 1873, South Boston
Edgell Grove Cemetery gateway, 1875, Framingham
Boston and Albany Railroad Station, 1881, Boston
† Cornerstone Baptist Church was remodeled in 1885 by Van Brunt & Howe, to whom the National Register of Historic Places incorrectly gives sole credit.
Elsewhere
Anderson Hall at the University of Rochester, 1861, Rochester, New York
Memorial Hall at Colby College, 1869, Waterville, Maine
St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 1876, East Greenwich, Rhode Island
Shurtleff College building, date unknown, Alton, Illinois