John A. Carter

The interior of the First Baptist Church in Keene, completed in 1966. Contoocook Valley Regional High School in Peterborough, completed in 1970.

John A. Carter (1924–2017) was an American architect in practice in Nashua, New Hampshire, from 1953 to 1995.

Life and career John Avery Carter was born June 16, 1924, in Nashua to Eliot Avery Carter and Edith (Gardner) Carter. His grandfather, James R. Carter, was the founder of the Nashua Corporation, one of Nashua's largest employers, and the family maintained a close relationship with the company. Carter was educated at Phillips Academy and at Yale University, graduating in 1949 with a BArch. He worked as a drafter for architects Robert T. Coolidge and E. Carleton Granbery in New Haven and as a designer for Kane & Fairchild in Hartford before returning to Nashua in 1953 to open his own office. His first work was St. George's Episcopal Church, a small modernist church in Durham. In 1956 he formed a partnership with former classmate Bliss Woodruff, a New Haven native. In the 1970s Carter & Woodruff was the largest architecture firm in the region. In 1974 the partnership was expanded to include David W. Cheever, an employee since 1958, but was dissolved in 1976. Carter then returned to private practice until his retirement in 1995.

Carter was among the leading New Hampshire architects during his lifetime. He and his firms were frequently honored for their work by the local and national bodies of the American Institute of Architects. Carter joined the AIA in 1954 as a member of the New Hampshire chapter. He was elected to several chapter leadership positions, and served as president from 1965 to 1968 and as New England regional director from 1980 to 1982. In 1984 he was elected a Fellow, the organization's highest membership honor.

Personal life Carter was married in 1950 to Julie Adelaide Macauley, and they had six children.

Architectural works St. George's Episcopal Church, 1 Park Ct, Durham, New Hampshire (1953–54) Broad Street Elementary School, 390 Broad St, Nashua, New Hampshire (1962–63) Contoocook Valley Regional High School, 184 Hancock Rd, Peterborough, New Hampshire (1967–70) Kelley Library, 234 Main St, Salem, New Hampshire (1967) Derryfield School, 2108 River Rd, Manchester, New Hampshire (1969–70) Nashua Arts and Science Center, 14 Court St, Nashua, New Hampshire (1972–74) Veterans Memorial Library, Daniel Webster College, Nashua, New Hampshire (1985–86)