Gurdon P. Randall

Gurdon P. Randall (February 18, 1821– September 20, 1884) was an architect in Chicago, Illinois. Early in his career, he studied in Boston, Massachusetts, in the office of Asher Benjamin. He moved to Chicago when he was 30, and practiced there for 34 years, focusing on large institutional architecture. He designed a number of notable buildings, including several that survive and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Biography Gurdon P. Randall was born in Braintree, Vermont on February 18, 1821. His siblings included Francis V. Randall, an attorney and Union Army officer during the American Civil War. He attended public school and assisted his father in lumbering and carpentry. Randall married Louisa Caroline Drew on January 31, 1842. When he was twenty-two, Randall moved to Boston, Massachusetts to study architecture with Asher Benjamin and G. W. Gray. In 1845 he returned to Vermont, establishing an architect's office at Northfield, later relocating to the larger town of Rutland. Randall specialized in railroad buildings, designing many of the structures on the Vermont Central and Rutland & Burlington lines. In Rutland Randall worked with his brother J. J. R. Randall, who succeeded to the practice when he relocated, in 1850, to Syracuse, New York. He practiced there for another six years. Destroyed by fire in 1875, and rebuilt largely on the same lines from 1876-78 under the direction of Alfred H. Piquenard. The rebuilt courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

Presently the First Baptist Congregational Church. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

First coed dorm at a public institution in the U.S. Demolished in 1957. Renamed in 2006 for R. Kirby Godsey. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and contributes to the Macon Historic District, listed in 1974. Originally built by the Evanston College for Ladies, which merged with Northwestern University in 1873. Most recently known as the Music Administration Building.