Fred Wesley Wentworth

Fred Wesley Wentworth (August 3, 1864 – October 5, 1943) was an American architect known for his extensive contributions to the architectural landscape of Downtown Paterson, New Jersey, as well as various residences and theaters across northeastern New Jersey. Wentworth played a pivotal role in reshaping Paterson following a devastating wind-driven fire that destroyed much of the city's central business district in 1902. His architectural portfolio encompassed a diverse range of building types, including institutional, commercial, residential, religious, and healthcare structures, as well as some of the nation's earliest movie theaters designed exclusively for motion pictures.

Early life Born on August 3, 1864, in Boxborough, Massachusetts, Wentworth was raised in Dover, New Hampshire. He graduated Dartmouth College in 1889 with a degree in architecture. While at Dartmouth, he was a founding member of the senior society Casque and Gauntlet.

Career Wentworth's professional career in Paterson started in 1888. When he first arrived, Paterson was a modest manufacturing town, but it experienced rapid growth, nearly tripling in population during his tenure. As the city expanded, Wentworth designed a wide array of new building types, including a post office, courthouse, In 1902 a fire devastated most of the center of the city and Wentworth was responsible for much of the rebuilding work needed afterward. some in collaboration with his draftsman and later partner, Frederick J. Vreeland. Many of his works are located within the Downtown Commercial Historic District of Paterson.

Wentworth was president of the New Jersey AIA and a member of the New Jersey State Board of Architects. He was recognized as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Passaic County Courthouse (1902), supervising architect Alexander Hamilton Hotel (1925), 39-55 Church Street Alexander Hamilton Garage, demolished YM-YWHA Building (1925), Van Houten Street Fabian Building (1926), 31-51 Church Street Paterson General Hospital (1926), demolished YMCA Building (1929) 128 Ward Street Paterson Evening News Building

Other public buildings Public School #10, Paterson Public School #13, Paterson Passaic County Tuberculosis Sanitarium (1928), aka Preakness Hospital Preakness, abandoned in 2009 Passaic County Welfare Home (1936), Haledon and Wayne Valley View Sanitarium (1927–31), known as the Preakness Building Nurses Residence, known as Passaic County Juvenile Detention Center Storage Building Loomis Sanitarium Library

Religious buildings Broadway Baptist Church, Paterson Temple Emanuel (1929), Eastside Park Historic District, Paterson

Movie theaters

Wentworth was commissioned to build several movie theatres by Jacob Fabian including The Regent which was the first facility built exclusively for the exhibition of moving pictures and other movie palaces. Fabian is recalled in the cinema at City Center Mall, the Fabian 8. Regent Theater (1914), Downtown Paterson (demolished) Branford Theater (1920), Four Corners, Newark Fabian Theater (1925), Downtown, Paterson Ritz Theatre (1926), Midtown, Elizabeth Stanley Theater (1928), Journal Square, Jersey City

Residences Psi Upsilon Fraternity House (1907), Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire Fred Wesley Wentworth House, Eastside Park Historic District, Paterson John W. Griggs House, Eastside Park Historic District, Paterson Hobart Manor (1915 expansion) for Garret Hobart, Wayne, New Jersey Atwood-Blauvelt mansion (1896–97), Oradell, New Jersey Casque and Gauntlet addition (1923), Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire Lucius Varney House, Dover, New Hampshire

Personal life On May 9, 1893, Wentworth married Florence Agnes Marie Hurlburt; the couple had no children. They lived at 630 East 27th Street in Paterson.