User:Patrick40502/Frank Fitch

Frank Fitch was an mid-19th century architect and entrepreneur who designed the Fitchburg Furnace. The furnace, the heart of the "Red River Iron Manufacturing Co." based in the village of Fitchburg, Estill County, Kentucky, was a post-Civil War attempt to revitalize the iron industry on a scale heretofore unknown in the state. For the first time in Kentucky's iron industry, out-of-state investors provided capital and a large-scale, state-of-the-art facility was constructed. The company failed during the Panic of 1873, and Fitch became an entrepreneur, eventually moving to and becoming involved in the nascent iron industry of Bibb County, Alabama, where he died in 1915.

Early Life

Fitch was born in 1831 in the town of Delhi, Delaware County, New York, the son of Dr. Cornelius Root Fitch and his wife, Paulina Farrington Fitch. He studied in local schools, and started apprenticing as a druggist with his brother, Dr. Thomas Fitch. According to an unpublished, undated family history written by Frank and his brother, F. James Fitch, Frank was educated at local common schools and academies, where he was taught mathematics, engineering, drafting and architecture. No mention is made of further study with architects, so one may conclude that aside from Fitch's introduction to these disciplines in school, he was mostly a self-taught architect/engineer, following in a long line of American "gentleman architects."

Druggist

After completing school, Fitch became a clerk for his brother, Dr. Thomas Fitch, and later moved to New York City, where he was made “head clerk and shipping clerk in one of the largest drug houses in New York.” Frank Fitch arrived in Lexington circa 1854 (see Figure 2) and was soon employed in the local drug trade. A report from the R.G. Dun & Co. states that he purchased a one-half interest in the drugstore of George Norton. Fitch eventually purchased Norton's share of the store, running it successfully until he sold his interests in Lexington in 1867 in preparation for taking over management of the Red River Iron Company in Estill County, Kentucky.

Designer & Iron Manufacturer

After the war, Fitch formed the Red River Iron Manufacturing Company (RRIMCO), and purchased the assets of the Red River Ironworks in Estill County, Kentucky. Fitch designed a state-of-the-art, charcoal-fueled iron blast furnace that has an almost elegant design despite its utilitarian, industrial purpose. The RRIMCO failed during the Panic of 1873, and it completely ceased operations after other owners before 1900.

Entrepreneur

Fitch moved to Mount Sterling, Kentucky, where he designed the Gothic Revival Episcopcal Church, which contains a large stained-glass window donated by Fitch in honor of his parents, Dr. Cornelius Root Fitch and Mrs. Fitch, as well as his first wife and two of his children.

As the iron industry in central Alabama began to take off, Fitch moved to Bibb County, Alabama. He became an advisor or manager of the iron and coal interests for Col. Smith, and married Smith's daughter in the 1880's. Fitch's attempts to become a larger player in the Alabama iron and coal industry did not materialize, and his later years were spent as a booster of the "Good Roads" movement. In appreciation of his efforts, a single-lane iron bridge over the River in Bibb County was named the Fitch Bridge.

Final Years and Death

Fitch died in Alabama in 1915 and was buried in Lexington Cemetery.

Connection to preservationist, J. Marston Fitch

Fitch is the grandfather of preservationist J. Marston Fitch, who is widely credited as the founder of the first graduate-level academic program historic preservation in the United States, at Columbia University.