Background
Gridley James Fox Bryant was born in 1816 in Boston, United States. The son of Gridley Bryant, an engineer, and builder.
Gridley James Fox Bryant was born in 1816 in Boston, United States. The son of Gridley Bryant, an engineer, and builder.
After an apprenticeship in the office of Alexander Parris, in 1837 began practice in Boston in a building which stood at the corner of Washington and Court Streets, now the site of the Sears Building. During the years that followed Mr. Bryant carried on what was probably the largest and most lucrative practice in the city in which he designed numerous works including City Halls, Jails, Court and Custom Houses, churches and business buildings. These were built not only in his native city, but elsewhere throughout New England and in other states.
Among his major works in Boston, the Broadway Savings Bank in South Boston was his first architectural achievement. Later he was architect of the Registry of Deeds Building on Tremont Street, said to have been the first fireproof building in the city; Horticulture Hall: Old Colony Depot, long since razed: City Hospital; Charles Street Jail: the City Hall on School Street, 1861-65; addition to the rear of the State House (replaced in 1893 by the extension of the building of which Charles Brigham and his firm were architects); and an enlargement of the Parker House Hotel—his last important work.
During the great fire of 1872 many of his works were destroyed, although a number v'ere afterward rebuilt from his plans.
Among Mr. Bryant’s works outside of Boston were the following note¬worthy buildings: City Hall at Lynn, Mass.; Peabody Memorial Church at Gloucester; City Hall at Gloucester; the original Peabody Institute Building at Danvers, which after being destroyed by fire was replaced by the present structure of which Lester Couch of Danvers was the archi¬tect; State Industrial School at Manchester, N. H.; and re-modeling of the State Capitol at Concord. N. H. Not until late in life did Mr. Bryant give up his office in Boston to retire to his home at Scituate, Mass., and in view of the scope of his practice and the excellent character of his work he may be considered as one of the important architects of his time.