Background
William C. Potter was born in 1842 at Schenectady, New York, United States.
William C. Potter was born in 1842 at Schenectady, New York, United States.
He was educated at Union College, graduated with the class of 1864.
His most successful works, college buildings, churches and a number of Federal buildings were designed in both the Gothic and Romanesque styles. In 1873, after being selected as architect of the Chancellor Green Building at Princeton College, he designed other buildings on the campus, including Alexander Hall, the Colleges of Science, a Romanesque structure. Appointed in the early 1870s to the office of the U. S. Supervising Architect, he was connected with the planning and/or supervision of work on several Federal Custom Houses and Post Office buildings. Among these the Custom House at Nashville, Tenn., begun in 1874 was the most noteworthy.
During his practice in New York, Mr. Potter was associated for a number of years with Robert H. Robertson in planning various churches in the city. Of the noted examples of their work might be mentioned the Church of the Divine Paternity, Central Park West; Lutheran Church of the Advent, Broadway at 93rd Street; Madison Avenue Presbyterian at 73rd Street, and Church of the Holy Trinity, Lenox Avenue and 122nd Street. In addition Messrs. Potter and Robertson designed the old Union Theological Seminary on Park Avenue, long since razed.
Among the churches Mr. Potter designed under his own name was St. Mary's at Tuxedo Park, N. Y., Christ Church at Poughkeepsie, and the South Congregational Church in Springfield, Mass. (1872-74), with its striking tower and large rose window. One of his last works, completed about 1890, was the Manual Arts Building at Barnard College, New York.