User:FloNight/Thomas Boyd

Thomas W. Boyd was an American architect that worked during the 1900's.

Significant buildings
Kentucky:
 * 1883 Fayette County Courthouse in Lexington, Kentucky.


 * 1877 Scott County Courthouse in Georgetown, Kentucky.

Ohio:
 * 1882 Tuscarawas County Courthouse in New Philadelphia, Ohio.
 * In 1882, the county's third courthouse was designed by architect Thomas Boyd and built by T.B. Townsend of Zanesville for a contract price of $98,860. Townsend purchased the old building from the county for $900 and used the bricks for fill material for under the new building. On October 25, 1882, the cornerstone was laid after a parade longer than 2 miles which converged on the Public Square. Over 10,000 people attended the cornerstone laying ceremony. The stone for the building was from a quarry in Medina, causing a special railroad track to be built to the site of the Courthouse. The building was 96' by 112' and consisted of 38 rooms on 3 floors and an attic.


 * This Courthouse was constructed with a dome with a statue of 3 women made from zinc or lead-like metal weighing more than 699 pounds and was 10' wide. It was called the Three Ladies of Justice and had to be removed for safety reasons in 1959. The heads of these ladies are on display in the Commissioners' Board room. Topping the dome today is a cupola which was lifted into place by a helicopter on July 26, 1973.  Currently the Courthouse building houses the Common Pleas courtrooms and administrative offices of Judge Edward Emmett O'Farrell, Judge Elizabeth Lehigh Thomakos and Judge Linda Kate. The ground floor houses the County's Law Library and Board of Elections. The Courthouse is on the National Register of Historic Buildings.


 * The Clock. The 1882 Courthouse houses a 1888 Seth Thomas clock with solid brass gears. It is 8' tall and has a 225 pound solid cast iron pendulum. The faces on the portions showing outside are 6' in diameter, made of glass 1" thick. The clock has to be wound once a week with the help of a small motor.  The bell is rung by a hammer.


 * 1878 Wayne County Courthouse is located in Wooster, Ohio. The cornerstone-laying ceremonies was on Oct. 9, 1878. Architect for the project was Thomas Boyd of Pittsburgh, Pa., who enjoyed a regional reputation. Boyd designed the structure in a style known as Second Empire, named for the reign of Napoleon III of France. At the time the architectural style was the rage in the United States. A close architectural relative of the Wayne County Courthouse is Philadelphia City Hall, built in 1871. To do the extensive stonework needed on the courthouse, Boyd brought in a group of itinerant Italian stonemasons to carved the four figures of Atlas which support the entablatures and pediments over the south and east entranceways. These figures were carved from solid blocks of stone that had already been set in place in the structure. A mansard-style roof, then in vogue, which makes usable space on the top floor.