Banning & Thornton
Edwin Thomas Banning | |
|---|---|
| Born | Error: Invalid birth date for calculating age Danielson, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | May 18, 1940 (aged 76) |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Years active | 1890s–1940 |
Edwin Thomas Banning (May 11, 1864 – May 18, 1940) was a notable American architect.
Biography
Edwin was born in Danielson, Connecticut, as the fourth child among six siblings to Rev. Carlos Banning and Harriet Elizabeth (Pitman) Banning. During his childhood, his family moved back to Newport, Rhode Island. He attended Rogers High School followed by Brown University but departed during his junior year to join the firm of Gould & Angell in Providence as a draftsman, working under well-known architects of the area.
In 1883, Banning married Isabella Thornton, with whom he had one daughter. Following Isabella’s passing, he remarried Agnes Gertrude Cristadoro in 1920 while residing in San Diego.
Banning launched an architectural office in Providence in the mid-1890s, specializing mainly in public structures such as educational facilities. He moved to Newport around 1900 but returned to Providence by 1903, where he partnered with his brother-in-law Henry C. Thornton to create the firm Banning & Thornton. This collaboration continued until 1912 when Banning relocated to San Diego to pursue his architectural career until his death in 1940.
Architectural works
Works by Edwin T. Banning prior to 1903:
- Casino at Roger Williams Park, Providence, Rhode Island (1896)
- Hospital and Gymnasium at Sockanosset School for Boys, Howard, Rhode Island (1898) – No longer standing
- Wayland Park School, Cranston, Rhode Island (1898) – No longer extant
- Y.M.C.A. Gymnasium in Newport, Rhode Island (1900–01) – Demolished
- Old Middletown Free Library, Middletown, Rhode Island (1902)
Projects completed under Banning & Thornton between 1903 and 1912:
- Old Cranston High School, Cranston, Rhode Island (1903–04)
- Former Warwick High School, West Warwick, Rhode Island (1904–05) – Significantly modified
- Humboldt Avenue Fire Station, Providence, Rhode Island (1905)
- Remodeling of the Old State House, Providence, Rhode Island (1906)
- Rhode Island Building for the Jamestown Exposition in Norfolk, Virginia (1906–07) – Demolished
- Arlington Grammar School, Cranston, Rhode Island (1907) – Demolished
- Norwood Avenue Grammar School, Cranston, Rhode Island (1907) – Extensively altered
- Old East Providence High School, East Providence, Rhode Island (1908–09)
- Temple Beth-El in Providence, Rhode Island (1910–11)
- Gleason House at the Rhode Island School for the Feeble-Minded in Exeter, Rhode Island (1912) – Demolished
Edwin T. Banning’s work following 1912:
- St. Vincent Roman Catholic Church in San Diego, California (1913) – Demolished