John Henry Chapman

• American

John H Chapman was a Concord resident who had earned the favor of the town leaders through his designs for Trinity Church (1884) and several stylish houses. A graduate of Yale and the Stuttgart Royal Academy, John Chapman is considered the first true architect to make his home in Concord, and his influence on the appearance of the town in the late 19th century was considerable. Mr Chapman's project, the West Concord School had just been completed befor his Concord Armory. Known for a specialty in "artistic country houses," he was to go on to renovate the former Universalist Church to become St Bernard's Catholic Church in 1889, and to design the 1890 town High School on Stow Street (like the West Concord School, no longer extant) before failing health resulted in his moving to Florida. - NRHP