Historic Buildings of America

This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design. Esther Singleton's Historic Buildings of America is a richly illustrated survey of the continent's most resonant landmarks, chosen as much for their beauty as for the histories they embody. From colonial houses, churches, forts, and civic monuments to celebrated sites in Canada, Mexico, and Cuba, the book traces a broad architectural journey through national memory, showing how Dutch, classical, and other traditions shaped American building. Its pages range from Independence Hall, Mount Vernon, Monticello, the White House, Faneuil Hall, Fort Sumter, and the Capitol to Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, the Cathedral of Mexico, and the Chateau de Ramezay. At its center stands the Capitol in Washington, described through ceremony, grandeur, and criticism alike: the cornerstone laying, the dome, porticos, rotunda, murals, and American-inspired ornament are set against reflections on political faction and civic ideals. The book also follows Arlington's transformation into a military cemetery, and returns to Monticello and Penn's Philadelphia to explore preservation, legend, and loss. Together, these essays make architecture a living record of republic, memory, and sacrifice.