James Bogardus

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James Bogardus
James Bogardus
Born	March 14, 1800 Catskill, New York
Died	April 13, 1874 New York City
Known for	cast-iron

James Bogardus (born March 14, 1800 in Catskill, New York; died April 13, 1874 in New York City) was an American inventor and architect, the pioneer of American cast-iron architecture, for which he took out a patent in 1850. In the next two decades he demonstrated the use of cast-iron in the construction of building facades, especially in New York City, where he was based, but also in Washington, DC, where three cast-iron structures erected by Bogardus in 1851 were the first such constructions in the capital. The success of the cast-iron exteriors from 1850-1880 led to the adoption of steel-frame construction for entire buildings.

Bogardus quit school at the age of fourteen to start an apprenticeship at a watchmaker.

He married Margaret McClay.

[edit] Notable inventions

• A cotton-spinning machine called a ring flier (1828)
• A mechanized engraving machine (1831), employed for engraving dies for bank notes
• The eccentric mill (1832), still used in principle for fine finish of ball bearings, and, with variable eccentricity, for lens grinding.

[edit] Further reading

• Margot Gayle and Carol Gayle. Cast-Iron Architecture in America: The Significance of James Bogardus (New York: Norton) 1998.