Charles B. Cluskey

Charles Blaney Cluskey (ca. 1808 – January 1871) was an Irish architect active from the 1830s to the start of the Civil War, and therefore he is recognised as an antebellum architect. He is reputed to be the initiator of the Greek Revival-style in the south, and his commissions, both public and private, can still be seen in Augusta, Milledgeville and Savannah, Georgia.

Early life Born in Ireland, Cluskey emigrated to the United States in 1827, landing in New York City, where he trained with the architectural firm Town and Davis. He moved to Savannah in 1829, where he undertook his first solo-commission, the Hermitage Plantation house, in 1830, now demolished.

In the 1840 and 50s, Cluskey moved to private commissions in Savannah, three houses still existing in what is now the Savannah Historic District. Notable examples existing in Savannah today are the Harper Fowlkes House and Sorrel-Weed Houses.

Selected works Hermitage Plantation house (1830), Savannah, Georgia (demolished) Medical College of Georgia (1834–1837), Augusta, Georgia Oglethorpe University (1837–1840), near Milledgeville, Georgia Governor's Mansion (1837–1839), Milledgeville, Georgia Cluskey Embankment Stores (1840–1844), Savannah, Georgia Harper Fowlkes House (1844), Savannah, Georgia St. Vincent's Academy (1845), Savannah, Georgia U.S. Customs House and Court House (1861), Galveston, Texas St. Simons Island Light and keeper's residence (1869), St. Simons Island, Georgia

Death He died, from malaria, in January 1871, before completing the St. Simons Island Light.

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