George Washington Whistler | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Major George Washington Whistler by Henry Inman | |
| Born | May 19, 1800 |
| Died | April 7, 1849 (aged 48) |
| Burial place | Stonington, Connecticut, US[1] |
| Alma mater | United States Military Academy |
| Occupation | Civil engineer |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 8; including James McNeill Whistler |
| Parent(s) | John Whistler and Anna Bishop |
George Washington Whistler (May 19, 1800 – April 7, 1849) was an American civil engineer best known for building steam locomotives and railroads.[2] He is credited with introducing the steam whistle to American locomotives.[3]
In 1842, Tsar Nicholas I hired him to build the Saint Petersburg–Moscow Railway, Russia's first large-scale railroad.[4] One of Whistler's important influences was the introduction of the Howe truss for the Russian railroad's bridges. This inspired the renowned Russian engineer Dmitrii Ivanovich Zhuravskii to perform studies and develop structural analysis techniques for Howe truss bridges.
He was the father of American artist James McNeill Whistler, whose painting Whistler's Mother (of his second wife Anna Whistler) is among the most famous paintings in American art.[3]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
ascebiowas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Vanderblue, Homer B. (1939). "An Engineer Writes on Railroad Construction Standards in 1842". Business History Review. 13: 6–11. doi:10.1017/S0007680500022066. S2CID 154969863.
- ^ a b MacGregor, Jeff (June 2014). "Getting to Know Whistler's Father". Smithsonian. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
- ^ Gasparini, D. A., K. Nizamiev, and C. Tardini. "GW Whistler and the Howe Bridges on the Nikolaev Railway, 1842–1851", American Society of Civil Engineers, Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities 30.3 (2015): DOI link:04015046.https://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0000791