John T. Fanning

John Thomas Fanning (1837–1911) was an American architect and hydraulic engineer. His contribution to fluid mechanics and hydraulic engineering is in the Fanning friction factor which is used by engineers in the present age to calculate the frictional pressures losses in flows inside pipes.

Biography Fanning was born in Norwich, Connecticut on December 31, 1837. In 1861 he enlisted, and participated in the United States Civil War with the rank of colonel, until his discharge. After the war, he returned to Norwich, soon establishing an office for the practice of engineering. There he married M. Louise Bensley on June 14, 1865, and they had three children. By 1877 he established a second office as an architect. By 1885 he had begun to get several commissions in the west, warranting a move to Minneapolis. He served in many professional capacities as a hydraulic engineer, including consulting for many railroads.

After his move from Manchester, he did not practice as an architect again.

He died in Minneapolis on February 6, 1911.

Architecture First Congregational Church, 508 Union St., Manchester, NH (1879–80) Opera House Block, 30 Hanover St., Manchester, NH (1880–81) Charles E. Balch House, 1779 Elm St., Manchester, NH (1881) Battery Building, 153-155 Manchester St., Manchester, NH (1883) - Demolished.

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