# Clarence True

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{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Short description|American architect (1860–1928)}}
{{Infobox architect
|name                  = Clarence Fagan True
|image                 = Leech House 520 WE Av jeh.JPG
|image_size            =
|caption               = Leech House, 520 West End Avenue (1892)
|birth_date            = 1860<ref name=streetscapes>[Christopher Gray](/source/Christopher_Gray_(architectural_historian)), "[https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/realestate/08scapes.html?scp=2&sq=Streetscapes&st=cse Streetscapes | Clarence True: Row House Wrangler, Chuck Wagon Consultant]", ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)'', May 5, 2011 (Retrieved May 10, 2011)</ref>
|birth_place           = [Queens](/source/Queens), New York, US<ref name=streetscapes/>
|death_date            = 1928<ref name=streetscapes/>
|death_place           = [New York City](/source/New_York_City), New York, US
|alma_mater            =
|practice              = Draftsman in the offices of '''[Richard M. Upjohn](/source/Richard_M._Upjohn)''' (until 1884)<br> Principal of '''Clarence True''' (from 1884)
|significant_buildings = [John B. Leech Residence](/source/520_West_End_Avenue) (1892)
|significant_projects  =
|significant_design    =
|awards                =
}}

'''Clarence Fagan True''', [AIA](/source/American_Institute_of_Architects) (1860–1928) was an American [architect](/source/architect) in [New York City](/source/New_York_City), one of the most prolific and competent architects to work on the [Upper West Side](/source/Upper_West_Side) and in [Harlem](/source/Harlem)<ref name="New York Landmarks Conservancy">[http://ebo.nylandmarks.org/eb_view.php?pg=1&id=1985 New York Landmarks Conservancy]</ref> during the last decade of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century.

==Early life==
Born 1860,<ref name=streetscapes/> True was the son of an [Episcopal](/source/Episcopal_Church_in_the_United_States_of_America) clergyman from [College Point, Queens](/source/College_Point%2C_Queens). The family moved to [Manhattan](/source/Manhattan), and by 1890, True was working in the same office building as developer Charles G. Judson.<ref name=nyt1>Gray, Christopher. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/24/realestate/streetscapes-157-159-west-88th-street-revamping-pair-1891-low-stoop-brownstones.html  "Streetscapes:157 and 159 West 88th Street; Revamping a Pair of 1891 Low-Stoop Brownstones"], ''The New York Times'', June 24, 2001. Retrieved April 3, 2007.</ref>

==Career==
True "worked in the office of the Gothicist [Richard M. Upjohn](/source/Richard_M._Upjohn) until he went out on his own in 1884 with a few minor commissions, like two in Queens: a Queen Anne cottage in Flushing and a Gothic-style clubhouse for the Aerial Athletic Association in Woodside."<ref name=streetscapes/> About 1890 Judson hired True, at that point a newly established architect. The same year, True planned his first [row houses](/source/row_houses) on the West Side of New York City. In 1891 he designed buildings at 157 and 159 West 88th Street, the low stoop row houses were each constructed for $12,000 apiece.<ref name=nyt1/> His development corporation for his speculative buildings was the Riverside Building Company.

[William Van Alen](/source/William_Van_Alen), architect of the [Chrysler Building](/source/Chrysler_Building), trained in True's office.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gray |first1=Christopher |title=Streetscapes/William Van Alen; An Architect Called the 'Ziegfeld of His Profession' (Published 1998) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/22/realestate/streetscapes-william-van-alen-an-architect-called-the-ziegfeld-of-his-profession.html |access-date=21 March 2025 |agency=The New York Times |date=22 March 1998 |language=en}}</ref>

==Works==
* 1892: John B. Leech Residence, [520 West End Avenue](/source/520_West_End_Avenue)
* 316–26 West [85th Street](/source/85th_Street)
* 103–109 [Riverside Drive](/source/Riverside_Drive_(Manhattan))
* 163 West 79th Street<ref>{{cite web |title=163 West 79th Street| url=https://www.landmarkwest.org/building/163-west-79th-street/ |website=landmarkwest.org |publisher=Landmark West! |access-date=July 16, 2025}}</ref>
* 332 West 83rd Street
* 469-477 West 143rd Street<ref name="New York Landmarks Conservancy"/>
* 1681-1687 Amsterdam Avenue<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/realestate/streetscapes-clarence-true-a-twist-on-the-town-house.html?hp|title = A Twist on the Town House|newspaper = The New York Times|date = January 24, 2013|last1 = Gray|first1 = Christopher}}</ref>
* 43–57 St. Nicholas Place
* 842 and 844 St. Nicholas Avenue

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:True, Clarence}}
Category:1860 births
Category:1928 deaths
Category:American residential architects
Category:Architects from New York City
Category:Defunct architecture firms based in New York City
Category:People from Queens, New York

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Clarence True](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_True) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_True?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.