Fred Wesley Wentworth

Fred Wesley Wentworth
Born	August 3, 1864 Boxborough, Massachusetts, US
Died	October 5, 1943; 81 years ago (1943-10-05) Paterson, New Jersey, US
Education	Dartmouth College
Occupation	Architect
Design	Atwood-Blauvelt mansion Barnert Hospital Stanley Theater Paterson Post Office

Fred Wesley Wentworth (August 3, 1864 – October 5, 1943) was an American architect known for his extensive contributions to the architectural landscape of Downtown Paterson, New Jersey, as well as various residences and theaters across northeastern New Jersey. Wentworth played a pivotal role in reshaping Paterson following a devastating wind-driven fire that destroyed much of the city's central business district in 1902. His architectural portfolio encompassed a diverse range of building types, including institutional, commercial, residential, religious, and healthcare structures, as well as some of the nation's earliest movie theaters designed exclusively for motion pictures.[1][2][3]

Early life

Born on August 3, 1864, in Boxborough, Massachusetts, Wentworth was raised in Dover, New Hampshire. He graduated Dartmouth College in 1889 with a degree in architecture.[4] While at Dartmouth, he was a founding member of the senior society Casque and Gauntlet.[5]

Career

Wentworth's professional career in Paterson started in 1888. When he first arrived, Paterson was a modest manufacturing town, but it experienced rapid growth, nearly tripling in population during his tenure. As the city expanded, Wentworth designed a wide array of new building types, including a post office, courthouse,[6] movie theaters, parking garages, aeronautics factories, and other commercial buildings.[7] In 1902 a fire devastated most of the center of the city and Wentworth was responsible for much of the rebuilding work needed afterward.[6][4]

Throughout his career, Wentworth designed numerous notable buildings,[8][9][10] some in collaboration with his draftsman and later partner, Frederick J. Vreeland. Many of his works are located within the Downtown Commercial Historic District of Paterson.[11]

Wentworth was president of the New Jersey AIA and a member of the New Jersey State Board of Architects.[12][13] He was recognized as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.[13] He retired in 1933.[12]

Paterson Post Office (1899)

Downtown Paterson

• United States Post Office (1899)[14][15]
• Passaic County Courthouse (1902), supervising architect[14]
• Walton Building (1903), 121 Ellison Street[9]
• First National Bank Building (1910), Ellison Street[9]
• Elbow Building (1913), 242-244 Main Street[9]
• Gerstley Building (1913) 160 Main Street
• Barnert Hospital (1914) Broadway, demolished[16]
• 622 Main Street (1920)
• Kitay Building (1920s)
• Masonic Temple (1923) 385-405 Broadway[17]
• Alexander Hamilton Hotel (1925), 39-55 Church Street[18][19]
• Alexander Hamilton Garage, demolished
• YM-YWHA Building (1925), Van Houten Street[20]
• Fabian Building (1926), 31-51 Church Street[9][21]
• Paterson General Hospital (1926), demolished[22]
• YMCA Building (1929) 128 Ward Street[23]
• Paterson Evening News Building

Loomis Sanitarium Library

Other public buildings

• Public School #10, Paterson
• Public School #13, Paterson
• Passaic County Tuberculosis Sanitarium (1928), aka Preakness Hospital Preakness, abandoned in 2009
• Passaic County Welfare Home (1936), Haledon and Wayne[24]
• Valley View Sanitarium (1927–31), known as the Preakness Building[25]
  • Nurses Residence, known as Passaic County Juvenile Detention Center
  • Storage Building
• Loomis Sanitarium Library

Religious buildings

• Broadway Baptist Church, Paterson
• Temple Emanuel (1929), Eastside Park Historic District, Paterson[26][27][28]

Movie theaters

Stanley Theater

Wentworth was commissioned to build several movie theatres by Jacob Fabian including The Regent which was the first facility built exclusively for the exhibition of moving pictures and other movie palaces.[16][29] Fabian is recalled in the cinema at City Center Mall, the Fabian 8.[30]

• Regent Theater (1914), Downtown Paterson (demolished)[16][31]
• Branford Theater (1920), Four Corners, Newark[32]
• Fabian Theater (1925), Downtown, Paterson[33]
• Ritz Theatre (1926), Midtown, Elizabeth[34][35]
• Stanley Theater (1928), Journal Square, Jersey City[34]

Psi Upsilon Fraternity House, Dartmouth College

Residences

• Psi Upsilon Fraternity House (1907), Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
• Fred Wesley Wentworth House, Eastside Park Historic District, Paterson
• John W. Griggs House, Eastside Park Historic District, Paterson[36]
• Hobart Manor (1915 expansion) for Garret Hobart, Wayne, New Jersey[37]
• Atwood-Blauvelt mansion (1896–97), Oradell, New Jersey
• Casque and Gauntlet addition (1923), Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
• Lucius Varney House, Dover, New Hampshire[38]

Personal life

On May 9, 1893, Wentworth married Florence Agnes Marie Hurlburt; the couple had no children. They lived at 630 East 27th Street in Paterson.[4]

He belonged to the Hamilton Club of Paterson, the North Jersey Country Club, Scottish Rite Freemasonry, the Shriners, and the Sons of the American Revolution.[12] He was a charter member of the Rotary.[12] Wentworth was also a Republican and a Universalist.[12]

Wentworth died on October 5, 1943, in Paterson at the age of 80.[4][12] He was buried in Pine Hill Cemetery in Dover, New Hampshire.[12]

See also

• List of tallest buildings in Paterson
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Passaic County, New Jersey

References

1. "Wentworth: The Garden State's Most Iconic Architects". AIA – NJ. Archived from the original on 2013-04-23. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
2. Polton, Richard E (2012), The Life and Times of Fred Wesley Wentworth: The Architect Who Shaped Paterson, NJ and Its People, Pine Hill Architectural Press, LLC, ISBN 978-0-8135-6078-6, archived from the original on 2019-11-12, retrieved 2014-10-11
3. Clunn, Nick (November 16, 2012). "Paterson native discovers works of forgotten city architect". The Record. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
4. "Fred Wesley Wentworth". The Morning Call. Paterson, New Jersey. 1943-10-04. p. 12. Retrieved 2024-12-29 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Faulkner, Robert K., ed. (1987). Casque and Gauntlet 1887 - 1987: One Hundred Years at the Corner (PDF). Casque and Gauntlet / Dartmouth Printing Company. p. 1. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
6. "Downtown Paterson Buildings". Fred Wesley Wentworth. Retrieved 2014-11-22.
7. "Who is Fred Wesley Wentworth?". Fred Wesley Wentworth. Retrieved 2014-11-22.
8. Simon, Lizzie (November 11, 2012). "Discovering Paterson One Building at a Time". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
9. "Walking Tour of Downtown". Paterson History. Archived from the original on 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2014-09-15.
10. "Book looks at life and times of Fred Wentworth". Foster's Daily Democrat. February 7, 2013. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
11. "Paterson Listed Historic Sites and Landmarked Buildings Buildings" (PDF). Greater Paterson.org. May 2008. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
12. "Architect Fred Wesley Wentworth (1864–1943)". Dartmouth. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
13. "Wentworth: The Garden State's Most Iconic Architects". AIA-NJ. 2013-04-12. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
14. "Passaic County Court House and Annex". New Jersey Historic Trust. Archived from the original on 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
15. "OldPassaic County Courthouse". Emporis. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
16. "KEY CLIENT—JACOB FABIAN". fredwesleywentworth.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-18. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
17. "Former JW Masonic Temple being made into landmark". North Jersey.com. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
18. "Alexander Hamilton Hotel". Emporis. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
19. Chen, David (June 25, 1995). "Paterson Hopes Hotel's Rebirth Will Lead the City's Way". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
20. "The YM-YWHA of Paterson". The Jews of Paterson. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
21. "Fabian Building". Emporis. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
22. "Paterson General Hospital". Emporis. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
23. "YMCA Building". Emporis. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
24. "Passaic County Board of Social Services". Passaic County Board of Social Services. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
25. "Facilities Plan Phase i: Inventory and Needs Assessment". Passaic County Planning Department. May 23, 2011. Archived from the original on November 22, 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
26. ERvolino, Bill (December 20, 2012). "Majestic art deco temple waiting to learn its fate". The Record. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
27. Archimede, Gianfranco (2007). "Temple Emanuel". Preservation New Jersey. Archived from the original on 2016-08-18. Retrieved 2014-11-24.
28. Juster, Randy (March 8, 2014). "The Uncertain Future of Temple Emanuel". decoppix. Retrieved 2014-11-24.
29. "Fabian Theater". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 2014-11-22.
30. "Fabian 8". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 2014-10-13.
31. Avignone, June (1999), Downtown Paterson, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7385-6323-7
32. "Branford Theater". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
33. "Fabian Theater". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
34. Read, Philip M. (2013), Movie Houses of Greater Newark, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7385-9933-5
35. "Ritz Theater". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
36. "PATERSON'S ELECTRIC STORM; Home of John W. Griggs Struck – Bolt Hits Crowded Car". The New York Times. July 12, 1903.
37. "History of Hobart Manor". William Paterson University. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
38. "Who is Fred Wesley Wentworth?". Fred Wesley Wentworth. Retrieved 2014-11-22.

External links

• Walking tour Downtown Paterson
• "Walking Tour of Downtown". Paterson History. Archived from the original on 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2014-09-15.
• The recent work of Fred Wesley Wentworth, Architect, Paterson, New Jersey, 1929
• Avignone, June (1999), Downtown Paterson, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7385-6323-7