Bogardus, James
(1800-1874), American inventor and architect, best known for popularizing the use of cast iron in building construction. He is also credited with inventing a new engraving process for postage stamps, a dry gas meter, a ring flier used in cotton spinning, and machines used for deep-sea sounding and drilling.
Born in Catskill, New York, Bogardus was apprenticed to a watchmaker at the age of 14. He soon became an engraver in New York City, gaining experience that would lead him to invent postage stamp engraving machines and processes later in life. In 1830 he patented a ring flier for a cotton-spinning machine, an invention that simplified the cotton-spinning process.
In 1834 Bogardus patented the first dry gas meter. It measured consumption of gas and contained two bellows connected by valves to a main gas line. The bellows alternately filled and emptied as the gas flowed through the meter, and their action was used as a counting mechanism. Because the volume of gas enclosed in each bellow was known, this count provided a measure of the total gas flow rate.
It is for his creative use of cast iron in building construction, however, that Bogardus is best known. Architecture was changing rapidly during the 1800s. Heavy walls were being replaced by skeletons of columns, beams, and facades as the main weight-bearing components of buildings. During the early part of the century, brick and concrete were the preferred materials for these columns and facades.
Born in Catskill, New York, Bogardus was apprenticed to a watchmaker at the age of 14. He soon became an engraver in New York City, gaining experience that would lead him to invent postage stamp engraving machines and processes later in life. In 1830 he patented a ring flier for a cotton-spinning machine, an invention that simplified the cotton-spinning process.
In 1834 Bogardus patented the first dry gas meter. It measured consumption of gas and contained two bellows connected by valves to a main gas line. The bellows alternately filled and emptied as the gas flowed through the meter, and their action was used as a counting mechanism. Because the volume of gas enclosed in each bellow was known, this count provided a measure of the total gas flow rate.
It is for his creative use of cast iron in building construction, however, that Bogardus is best known. Architecture was changing rapidly during the 1800s. Heavy walls were being replaced by skeletons of columns, beams, and facades as the main weight-bearing components of buildings. During the early part of the century, brick and concrete were the preferred materials for these columns and facades.
Bogardus, inspired by the form and function of classical European architecture, was convinced that a malleable material such as cast iron could provide the same visual effect with less material than the original classical buildings required. He popularized the use of cast iron by establishing a foundry in 1840 that mass-produced prefabricated cast-iron beams and columns that could be shipped to building sites. In 1848 he demonstrated his ideas by using all cast-iron beams and supports to build a five-story sugar mill in New York City. His innovations encouraged architects of the 20th century to design tall skyscrapers with strong skeletal supports of iron and steel.
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