Draft:Edward Buxton Cristy

Edward Buxton Cristy
c. 1916 – 1918
Born	(1860-11-02)November 2, 1860 Greenwich, Connecticut
Died	(1934-02-20)February 20, 1934 Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
Alma mater	Phillips Exeter Academy Columbia University
Occupation	Architect
Spouse(s)	Estelle Cristy (nee Gillespy), 1860–1932
Children	2, Anne Cristy Henderson (Mrs. Algo Henderson), 1897–1962. Edward James Cristy, 1899–2002.
Signature

Edward Buxton Cristy (1860–1934) was one of the first architects working in and from Albuquerque, New Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He designed residential, commercial, and institutional structures and he is associated with the origin of Pueblo Revival architecture on the campus of the University of New Mexico.

Biography

Cristy was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut,^[1] although some sources^[2][3] generalize that he was from nearby New York City. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Columbia University,^[3] receiving a "Bachelor of Philosophy (Course of Architecture)" in 1891.^[4] His degree is sometimes misdescribed as a "Ph.D.", or doctorate,^[2][3] but this contradicts original sources.^[5][4] (Bachelor of Philosophy was often abbreviated "Ph.B.")

He moved to Albuquerque in 1892, where he practiced as "E. B. Cristy." Initially, he supplemented his income by teaching at a private boarding school, by teaching drawing, drafting, and higher mathematics at the University, and by serving as the city's plumbing inspector.^[1] He married Estelle Gillespy in Denver on July 20, 1896.^[1][6]

With the then-recent establishment of the Santa Fe Railway Shops, Albuquerque was growing rapidly from village to city.^[7] Cristy established himself as a first-rate architect and as a prominent community member. He volunteered on the city's park commission for several years, was a member of the Masons, the Order of Odd Fellows, and an active elder in the Presbyterian Church.^[1][2][3]

"Most of Cristy's designs are in the standard styles of the period"^[1] but he was present at the conception of Pueblo Revival^[3][8], and his designs at Menaul School are described as Mission Revivall^[9]

From his arrival in Albuquerque nearly until his death in 1934, Cristy practiced for nearly forty years. Including five contributing properties, eleven of his known commissions are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Much of his work remains unattributed.^[1]

Pueblo Revival at the University of New Mexico (UNM)

Cristy's significant work at UNM began in 1900 when he designed the University's Hadley Science Hall, a traditional two and a half story brick Richardson Romanesque structure and, after Hodgin Hall, the second major building on campus. The following year, UNM's third president, William G. Tight, took office envisioning a campus reflecting indigenous Southwestern architecture. Cristy was extensively enlisted in implementing Tight’s vision:

"E. B, Cristy has returned to the city from the pueblo of Taos, N. M., where he went the early part of the week to take observations of some of the pueblo buildings, which he expects to reproduce in plans for the University of New Mexico. Several new buildings are to be added to the university in the near future and it is a hobby of Dr. Tight to have them resemble the architecture of Taos." (Albuquerque Evening Citizen, September 14, 1907)^[10]

The novel style was both acclaimed and controversial with detractors describing it as "reverting to the primitive."^[8] This, and other controversies, led to Tight’s resignation in 1909, but he had successfully commissioned Cristy for six structures in the Pueblo style. (Estufa and Cristy's remodel of Hodgin Hall remain.) In 1910, punctuating Tight’s departure, Cristy’s traditionally styled Hadley Science Hall burned to the ground. Subsequent campus development did not consistently adhere to Pueblo Revival,^[8][9]although Crisy oversaw the 1920 construction of the Pueblo designed Sara Raynolds Hall.^[1]

Beginning in 1934, the year of Cristy's death, Tight's and Cristy's Pueblo Revival would be amplified on campus, in Santa Fe, and throughout the Southwest, when John Gaw Meem was engaged as UNM's official architect.^[8]

List of works

Addresses in Albuquerque unless noted otherwise. This list is certainly incomplete, especially for residential commissions. It is occasionally unclear if Cristy was the designer or the local supervising (on-site) architect for another firm.

University of New Mexico Commissions

Name	Address	Built	Other Information	Image
Gymnasium[1]	UNM Campus	1899	Demolished.	No image.
Hadley Science Hall[1][8]	UNM Campus	1900	Includes Hadley Climatological Laboratory. Burned down, 1910.
Heating Plant[1][8]	UNM Campus	1905	Demolished.	No image.
Hokana Hall[1][8]	UNM Campus	1906	Women's dormitory, demolished.	No image.
Kwataka Hall[1][8]	UNM Campus	1906	Men's dormitory, demolished.
Estufa[1][3]	SE corner University Blvd & Martin Luther King Blvd	1907	Student-designed, Cristy approved. National Register of Historic Places
Hodgin Hall[1][8]	1900 Redondo Drive, UNM Campus	1908	Remodelled by Cristy over Jesse Wheelock's 1892 design.
Rodey Hall[1]	UNM Campus	1908	Demolished 1970.
Sara Raynolds Hall[1]	2000 Redondo Drive, UNM Campus	1920	Cristy supervising architect under Arno K. Leupold. National Register of Historic Places

Other Education Commissions

Name	Address	Built	Other Information	Image
Second Ward School[1]	700 South Edith Blvd	1893	Demolished 1927 and replaced by Eugene Field Elemenary.	No image.
Central High School[1]	Corner of Third St, and Lead Avenue.	Before 1904	Demolished.
Sage Memorial Administration Building[1]	Allison-James School, Santa Fe, NM.	1924		No image.
Belen School Board[3]	Belen, NM	Before 1912		No image.
Saint Vincent's Academy[3]	ADDRESS	?		No image.
Pierson Hall[1][2]	Menaul School Campus	1903	Remodel.	No image.
Hart Gymnasium[1]	Menaul School Campus	1916		No image.
Teacher's Hall[1]	Menaul School Campus	1920
Bennett Hall[1]	Menaul School Campus	1924		No image.
NM School of Mines[3]	Socorro, NM	Before 1912.		No image.

Church Commissions

Name	Address	Built	Other Information	Image
Immaculate Conception Church[1][2]	Sixth Ave & Copper Ave	Before 1907.	Remodel of interior.	No image.
First Presbyterian Church[1][2][3]	424 Silver Ave	1905-06
First Congregational Church[1][2][3]	Coal Ave & Cental	1893	Remodel. Demolished.	No image.
Episcopal Church[3]	324 Silver Ave	Before 1912.		No image.
Methodist Episcopalian Church[3]	Fourth Ave and Coal Ave	Before 1904?	The 1904 reconstruction is credited to Charles Frederick Whittlesey. National Register of Historic Places

Other Institutional Commissions

Name	Address	Built	Other Information	Image
Albuquerque City Hall[1][2]	Second & Tijeras Avenues	1913	Shown "as planned" on 1913 Sanborn Insurance Map. Demolished.	No image.
Odd Fellows Hall[3]	Second Ave. between Silver and Lead Avenues	Before 1912.	Demolished.	No image.
Y.M.C.A. Building[1]	ADDRESS	1915	Supervising and revising. Demolished 1974.	No image.
Albuquerque Morning Journal[3]		1905	Addition to building.	No image.
N. T. Armijo Building ("Armijo Block")[2][3]	Third Ave. and Railroad Ave.	?	Cristy had an office in this building.	No image.
Barnett Block[2]	ADDRESS	?		No image.
Kistler-Collister[1]f	Second and Central Avenues	After 1909	Storefront remodel.	No image.
Southwest Presbyterian Sanatarium (now Presbyterian Hospital)[1][3]	1100 Central Ave SE	Before 1912
Hazeltine Infirmary[1]	Southwest Presbyterian Sanatarium	1926		No image.
Nurses Home[1]	Southwest Presbyterian Sanatarium	1929		No image.
Maytag Laboratory[1][9]	168 Oak Street (Presbyterian Hospital Campus)	1930	Extant.	No image.

Bank Commissions

Name	Address	Built	Other Information	Image
Bank of Magdalena[3]	First and Main Streets, Magdalena, New Mexico	1908-12	National Register of Historic Places
Belen Bank[3]	Belen, New Mexico	Before 1912		No image.
Holbrook Bank [3]	19 or 21 Central Ave., Holbrook, Arizona	Before 1912	See Sanborn Insurance Map, 1910, 1916.	No image.
First National Bank[2][3]	Second and Gold	Before 1912.	Not the existing structure from 1923. Remodel.	No image.

Residential Commissions

Name	Address	Built	Other Information	Image
W. J. Marsh House,	301 South Edith	c.1895	Contributing property in Huning Highlands
David Ross Boyd House[1]	123 South High St.	c.1895	Contributing property in Huning Highlands
Dr. James Wroth House[1]	508 West Copper	1895	Demolished.	No image.
Edward Buxton Cristy House.[9][1]	201 South Walter	1896-7	Cristy's self-designed home. Contributing property in Huning Highlands
House at 216 South Broadway[11][12]	216 South Broadway	1901	For Fred W. Fisher
House at 608 South Arno[11]	608 South Arno	1901	Photograph from 1975.
Lulu Hopping House[11]	737 South Edith	1901	National Register of Historic Places
William R. Whitney House[1]	302 South Walter	1907	Contributing Property in Huning Highlands
Charles A. Bottger House	110 San Felipe NW	1912	National Register of Historic Places
Robert E. Putney	1101/1105 West Central Ave.	c. 1913	Demolished.	No image.
"Court" Quickel House[1]	810 Park Avenue SW	?	Demolished 1965. "Court" likely refers to Cortez, a.k.a Cort: Cortez Swartz Quickel, 1887-1928.	No image.
House at 214 South Fourteenth[1]	214 South Fourteenth	1919	Frame house built for $3,000. (Bldg permit #1726) The later Cristy home. Demolished.	No image.
Angus A. Grant estates[2]	?	?	Grant owned utility companies and substantial Albuquerque real estate. This attribution is vague.	No image.

References

Category:1860 births Category:1934 deaths Category:19th-century American architects Category:20th-century American architects