(1866–1924). The U.S. architect Henry Bacon is noted especially for his buildings and memorials in classic Greek style. He is best known as the designer of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Born on Nov. 28, 1866, in Watseka, Ill., Bacon studied briefly at the University of Illinois, Urbana, but left to begin his architectural career as a draftsman. He eventually began working in the office of McKim, Mead & White in New York City, probably the most widely known architectural firm of its time. Bacon’s works of that period were in the late Greek revival and beaux-arts modes associated with the firm’s creations. His important works include the Danforth Memorial Library in Paterson, N.J. (1908); the train station in Naugatuck, Conn., built as an Italian villa; the Observatory and other buildings at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn.; and the Union Square Savings Bank in New York City.
Bacon was very active as a designer of monuments and settings for public sculpture. He collaborated with the sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Daniel Chester French; the latter carved the huge statue of Abraham Lincoln that sits within Bacon’s last and most famous work, the Lincoln Memorial, which was dedicated on May 30, 1922. Bacon died in New York City on Feb. 16, 1924.