John D. Towle
John D. Towle (d. 1887) was an American architect. Life. Towle's early life and training are unknown, but he was a native of Newtonville, Massachusetts. He was in Albany, New York by 1837, when he advertised the opening of an architectural office in partnership with John Klein. By the following year he was in practice alone and provided designs for eight public schools in the City of Albany. His son, James Augustus Towle, was born in Albany in 1839. He was married to Cordelia Shields of Brownville, New York. In 1839-40 he was in partnership  with builder James A. Morse; the firm undertook alterations to the New York State Capitol and did work for the Lutheran Ebenezer church, both in the City of Albany. In September 1841 he was a delegate at the state convention of mechanics, representing Albany. In 1843 he opened an architectural office in Boston, Massachusetts. For most of his life he made his home in Newton. In 1849 he partnered with Albert F. Bellows, an artist who had trained as an architect. The firm of Towle & Bellows dissolved in 1850, when Bellows turned back to painting. He remained in practice without  a partner until 1852 when Francis Foster, a surveyor, joined Towle. The firm of Towle & Foster was Towle's most productive partnership. In 1855 the two split, and Towle returned to solo practice. In about 1867 Towle had taken his son, J. Edward Towle, into the firm of J. D. Towle & Son. After 1871 he once again practiced alone. In the late 1870s he relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, where he died in 1887. Towle was a member of the Missouri (now Kansas City) chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He became noted during the 1850s for his designs  of Italianate-style churches, which he built all across New England. Legacy. Architects Alfred Stone and Samuel J. F. Thayer trained in Towle's office.