Background
Stephen D. Button was born in 1803 in Preston, Connecticut, United States.
Stephen D. Button was born in 1803 in Preston, Connecticut, United States.
Stephen served an apprenticeship in architecture in the New York office of one George Purvis, afterward continued in his employ for several years. Mr. Button's first important work was the original State House at Montgomery, Alabama, United States, for which he completed plans in 1847, a year after the city became the state capital. A few years later the building was destroyed by fire, and on the new and present Capitol building George Nichols was the architect, with Mr. Button in charge of the construction as Supervising Architect.
In 1849 he returned to Philadelphia, United States to establish a partnership with his brother-in-law, J. C. Hoxie, and in that association prepared plans for several commercial buildings in the city and a number of residences in Rittenhouse Square. Mr. Button also designed the City Hall, several churches and thirteen schools in Camden, New Jersey, United States.