John Mills Van Osdel (July 31, 1811 – December 21, 1891)[1] was an American architect who is considered the first Chicago architect.[2] He is considered a peer of the most prominent architects in the history of Chicago. He has also done significant work throughout Illinois and the Midwest, although much of it no longer exists.
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Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Van Osdel planned the first architect-designed house in Chicago for the first Mayor of Chicago, William Ogden. The house was located on Rush Street.[3][4] Ogden commissioned Van Osdel, who came from New York to Chicago for the job. By 1844, he had opened Chicago's first architectural firm.[4] In addition, he secured passage of the city's first building code.[1]
He is considered a Chicago school architect and a peer of William LeBaron Jenney, Dankmar Adler, Louis Sullivan, Daniel Burnham, John Wellborn Root and Frank Lloyd Wright.[2] In fact, he and William W. Boyington are considered the most prominent Chicago architects of the period from the city's incorporation in 1837 until the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.[5]
Much of his work has been destroyed by fire,[5] but remaining structures stand as local landmarks, with many listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Van Osdel designed the Palmer House, Tremont House and Page Brothers Building in Chicago,[1][6] the Illinois Executive Mansion in Springfield, the state capital,[7] the Old McHenry County Courthouse, Old Main at the University of Arkansas, and some courthouses in Indiana.[4] He also designed the first cast-iron building for the Lake Street central business district.[2] Chicago City Hall sits on the site of a former Van Osdel building that housed a county courthouse and city hall.[8] Van Osdel's 1872 McCarthy Building was demolished along with the rest of Block 37 in 1987 despite its Chicago Landmark status.[9] Another work is St. Joseph County's Second Court House, 1854; South Bend St. Joseph County, Indiana.
Van Osdel died at age 80 in Chicago.
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