Henry Augustus Sims

Sims, Henry Augustus, Architect, was born in Philadelphia, December 22d, 1832. He was intended for the profession of a Civil Engineer, and went to Canada in 1851 to prosecute that study. Subsequently he was engaged on railway works in a subordinate capacity for several years, in Canada, Georgia, and Minnesota. He commenced the study of Architecture in 1856, and practiced it with considerable success at Ottawa, Canada, from 1860 until 1866 when, desiring a more extended field, he returned to his native city. Since his return he has executed several important works, among which may be named the Second Presbyterian Church, at Twenty-first and Walnut streets, the Montgomery County Alms-house, a small chapel at the corner of Twenty-first street and Columbia Avenue, another at Mercersburgh, Pennsylvania, a number of country houses of size and importance, and other buildings for individuals in and around Philadelphia. In conjunction with his younger brother, J.P. Sims, who studied under him, he is erecting the new Court House at Hagerstown, Maryland, the extension of the Montgomery County Prison at Norristown, Pennsylvania, and many buildings of a private character. The firm are acting as consulting architects on the new Girard Avenue Bridge, in course of erection, and are designing its ornamental features. He is the Secretary for Foreign Correspondence of the American Institute of Architects, and in this connection his name is well known to the architects of Europe. He is also one of the Vice-Presidents of the Philadelphia Chapter of Architects.

The Biographical Encyclopaedia of Pennsylvania of the Nineteenth Century. Philadelphia: Galaxy Publishing Company, 1874, p. 81.

Submitted by Nancy.