WALTER, Thomas Ustick (1804-1887) was indisputably the dean of American architects in the nineteenth century. His landmark work, the cast iron Dome of the United States Capitol in Washington (1855-1865) has come to symbolize the American government and was a structural tour-de-force upon its completion in 1865. Walter was born in Philadelphia, Penn. on 4 September 1804 and joined his father's construction business as a master bricklayer. He worked as an apprentice to William Strickland, and attended the School of Mechanical Arts which was operated under the direction of the eminent architect John Haviland. His prolific career began in 1831 and by 1845 he had designed more than two hundred projects; those which were built included the Hospital for the Blind, (1831), Girard College for Orphans, (1833-1848), and many churches, all in the Philadelphia area. In 1852 he prepared an elaborate Gothic Revival design for the Hospital for the Insane of the Army and Navy at Washington, D.C., and his experience with this complex commission proved useful when, in 1854, Walter was called upon by the Nova Scotia provincial government to advise them on the design of the Mount Hope Asylum for the Insane, Pleasant Street, DARTMOUTH, N.S. in 1856.
The plan and specifications for the Asylum in Washington had been loaned to the government staff in Nova Scotia, who noted that they were '.....under obligation to the architect of the hospital Thomas U. Walters (sic) for a plan and elevation of the building...In adapting the Washington plan to our purpose it was deemed advisable on the score of the economy and for the sake of warmth in this more northern altitude to reduce the size of all rooms, halls, staircases, indeed the entire building' (Nova Scotia, Journals of the Assembly, 1859, Appendix 10, Hospital for the Insane). The local Halifax architect Robert Chambers served as Clerk of Works to Walter on this commission, and extensions to the building were made by Henry G. Hill in 1867. It is unclear, however, just how closely Walter was involved in this, his only Canadian commission. No reference to the project can be found in his detailed Journal or in his Account Books held by the Athenaeum in Philadelphia, and sketches or presentation drawings are absent from the extensive Walter Collection held at this institution.
His career in Philadelphia suffered many setbacks, including personal bankruptcy in 1841 and death of his wife in 1847. Although he was able to obtain many important commissions from the United States Government in the 1850's, including the Treasury Building Extension, Washington (1855-65) and the Post Office Extension (1857), neither he nor his estate were ever paid for his design or supervision services. Walter remained active in the profession until after 1875 and died in Philadelphia on 30 October 1887 (obituary Philadelphia Inquirer, 31 Oct. 1887, 4; obituary The Times (Philadelphia), 1 Nov. 1887, 2; biography in Appletons Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. 6, 1889, 341-42; biog. in the National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. xiv; biog. in Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects, 1982, iv, 365-70, illus.; inf. G. Shutlak, PANS). A full page photographic portrait of T.U. Walter, taken c. 1870, was published in the Journal of the American Inst. of Architects [Washington], Vol. 1, August 1913, 368.