Mountain, Charles H.

MOUNTAIN, Charles H. (1811 - c. 1857) an early and ambitious American architect who lived and worked in Philadelphia (Sandra Tatman, Biographical Dictionary of Philadelphia Architects 1700-1930, 1985). He was born in England in 1811 and arrived in the United States in September 1835. From his office in Philadelphia he submitted an entry in the competition for Queen's College, KINGSTON, ONT., 1841 (J. Stewart & I. Wilson, Heritage Kingston, 1973, 121). His entry was not premiated, and the commission was awarded to John G. Howard. The drawings by Mountain cannot be found, but his written description and Specification have survived and are now held at the Archives of Queen's University in Kingston. They describe his treatment of the elevations '..in the "Old English" style of architecture', perhaps in a Tudor or early Gothic Revival form.
By 1844 he appears to have moved to Canada. A full suite of twelve drawings signed 'Charles H. Mountain, Archt., Montreal' and illustrating his design for an Episcopal Chapel of Ease at Hamilton, BERMUDA are now held in the Camden Tucker Collection of the Bermuda National Archives (inf. Stephen Otto, Toronto). It is likely his design was one of number of competition entries; the commission was later awarded to James Cranston of Oxford, England in 1845, and the building, now called Holy Trinity Church, was completed by William Hay in 1848-49.
In 1845 he appears in New York City, working from an office on Wall Street (Dennis S. Francis, Architects in Practice New York City 1840-1900, 1980, 56). He continued to live and work there until at least 1857, and was one of a number of architects who submitted a design for the George Washington Equestrian Monument Competition at RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, USA, 1850 (inf. Pamela Scott, Washington, D.C.). His design was passed over in favour of the winning scheme by Thomas Crawford.