William Bell (architect)

William Bell (1789 – 1865) was a Scottish architect and builder, who emigrated to the United States and was operational in North Carolina.

The Confederate arsenal in Fayetteville, North Carolina, by William Bell (destroyed March 1865)

Life

He was born in Aberdour on the coast of Fife on 28 October 1789.^[1]

He apparently trained in Medicine at Edinburgh University prior to turning to architecture. In 1826 he married Margaret Robertson, and they had several children. In 1832/3, just prior to emigration, the family was living at 7 India Place, in the Stockbridge area of Edinburgh.^[2] The building was demolished in the 1970s. His known works in Scotland are limited to churches in the north (harbour area) of Edinburgh.

He emigrated in 1833 and appears to have begun specialising in arsenal buildings for the army. In 1835, following a meeting at East Chester quarry near New York, he joined forces with fellow Scot, David Paton, then working on the North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh. In 1837 Paton recommended Bell for a commission to build a new United States Arsenal in Fayetteville and this thereafter occupied Bell for many years. This huge complex comprised around 25 buildings and up to 200 labourers were employed at any given time during its construction. Bell and his family lived at the arsenal during this period.

When the Confederacy took over the arsenal in 1861, Bell continued in his same role. The arsenal was destroyed by General Sherman’s troops in 1865.

Bell died on 17 September 1865. It is said that he died of a broken heart on seeing his life’s work destroyed.^[3]

Principal Works

• St Thomas Church, Great Junction Street, Leith, Scotland (1824)^[4] (now a Sikh temple)
• St Andrews Church, St Andrew Place, Leith, Scotland (1826) (now a Hindu temple)
• Federal arsenal, near Yonkers, New York (1833)
• Arsenal in Washington D.C. (1834)
• Arsenal in Charleston, South Carolina (possibly 1834) with William Strickland
• Arsenal at Fayetteville, North Carolina (1837-1865)
• Drawings for buildings for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1839) (unbuilt)

References