James W. McLaughlin

James W. McLaughlin (November 1, 1834 – March 4, 1923) was a Cincinnati, Ohio architect. He studied to be an architect working under the famed James Keys Wilson. He fought in the American Civil War, serving in the Union Army. During the late 19th century, he became a popular builder in Cincinnati. In 1870, he helped organize the Cincinnati chapter of the American Institute of Architects; that year, he was selected as a Fellow of the AIA, serving on its board.

Early life James W. McLaughlin was born on November 1, 1834, the second son of William and Mary McLaughlin. His family was "largely" Scots-Irish and his father William was an early Cincinnati merchant who had moved in 1818 to the developing city from Sewickley, Pennsylvania outside Pittsburgh.

After the war, he published "a book illustrated with his vivid vignettes of army life based on his experiences with General Fremont in California." McLaughlin's design for the Cincinnati Zoological Gardens (1874–1875) "produced the earliest completed structures specifically for that purpose in the United States, and displayed his sense of humor and flexibility in housing specimens in buildings inspired by their geographical and ethnically associated origins." Old Main Library (1868–1870) Cincinnati Zoo Historic Structures at 3400 Vine Street in Cincinnati, Ohio (a National Historic Landmark Stores for John Shillito Company dry goods business, Hamilton County Courthouse, Ohio (1884 rebuilding), a reconstruction "after a riot and fire" original Cincinnati Art Museum building (1882–1886), "the oldest extant museum building in the Midwest" that has "been almost entirely swallowed up in later additions, but his interiors have recently been restored to approximately their original form and once again demonstrate their structural, functional, and systemic validity." Art Academy of Cincinnati building (1885–1888) between 3rd, 4th, Main and South A Streets in Richmond Indiana. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) First Unitarian Church, Cincinnati (1888–1889) at Reading Road and Linton Street, Sir Alfred T. Goshorn house (1890–1891) Clifton Avenue. Includes a staircase salvaged from the library of a house designed by Frank Furness Y.M.C.A. Building, Cincinnati (1890–1891) "later adapted as the Shubert Theater" Grace Church Cincinnati at 3626 Reading Road. Credited to McLaughlin and Albert C. Nash, and listed on the NRHP. John Uri Lloyd House 3901 Clifton Avenue in Cincinnati. Listed on the NRHP. Mabley & Carew Building (1907) 12 floors (destroyed) Mabley & Carew Department Store, 6 floors, 1881 (destroyed)